“It has a lovely shape and satisfying quality and the fact that it is modelled on something old and obscure betrays an attention to detail that's very apparent in the beer itself,” according to St Peter's brewery. “Because the bottle has been thought about and well-crafted, the beer must be good”. And it is.

Brewed in timber-clad coppers in outbuildings of St Peter’s Hall in Suffolk, it’s made with on-site bore water, local malts and hops from the famous Kent gardens. Apart from classic styles, the brewery produces organic and gluten-free beers and fruit beers infused with local seasonal berries. But, while introducing new brewing aspects, St Peter’s is bases on tradition.

Perth importer Phoenix Beers supplies an extensive range of St Peter’s brews to The International Beer Shop and Cellarbrations at Carlisle. Here’s a selection.

GOLDEN ALE (4.7 per cent)

For what it supposedly an easy-drinking summer style, this orange hued ale carries surprising complexity, perhaps via the yeast. It smells of sweet malts, woody, herbal hops and nuts. It smoothly coats the mouth with smoky yet fresh pear and apple flavours. So, despite its depth, it ends up as slightly bitter, more-ish refreshment.

BEST BITTER (3.7 per cent)

Based on the staple tipple of English country pubs, the rather light-bodied Best Bitter has the looks - big bubbled, tawny foam atop a lovely copper-amber fluid. Hops come through in an aroma evoking an earthy scotch, bitter notes balancing the malt foretaste and fragrant floral licks.

SUFFOLK GOLD (4.9 per cent)

The importers call this a “fantastic brew” and they get no argument here. From the slightly hazy bronze-orange colour and dense white head to the fresh-bread aroma with hints of fruit and

caramel to long, lip-smacking bitter aftertaste, it’s rustic Gold representing the best of the agricultural county where it’s brewed.

INDIA PALE ALE (5.5 per cent)

Lovely to look at, pouring a golden honey colour with off-white head, this IPA gives bakery smells and spicy hop flowers on the nose and big, sweet, fruity malt on the front palate. Then comes the IPA hallmark dry middle and cheek-caving bitter finish. Oddly, St Peter’s packages its IPA in a round bottle – same embossed green glass, same 500ml content and same label shape as the “medicine” bottle, but not quite as individual.

TRIPPEL TREAT BY GAGE ROADS

WA’s Gage Roads brewery has an oak-aged version of its prize-winning Belgian style Trippel ale on tap from this week at Clancy’s Fish Pubs in Fremantle and Applecross. The limited release of bold, 9.8 per cent Trippel echoes a similar exercise last December with Gage Roads Saison – which sold out within a fortnight.

“This (Trippel) is a big beer with lots of flavour,” head brewer Aaron Heary said. “The trick when using oak or spices is to use restraint; it’s easy to go overboard. You want the drinker to be asking, ‘what’s that flavour in the background?’ You don’t want to overpower the beer.”

The beer was secondary fermented and cold aged in French oak barrels for nine months, adding extra depth and complexity, drawing out flavours such as vanilla bean, tannin and spice from the wood.

Trippel is deep golden in colour, and slightly hazy from conditioning. Fermentation was by two imported Belgian yeast strains, one delivering spicy dryness, the other more fruity tones balanced by authentic Belgian candy sugar. Banana and hot cross bun aroma rises with the alcohol’s intense yet soft warmth. Noble Tettnanger and Hersbrucker hops add moderate spice character, cleansing the palate at the end.

If you can’t get to Clancy’s before the draught runs out, Gage Roads Trippel is available in gold wax dipped, individually numbered champagne bottles from 24 metropolitan liquor shops.

QUICK ONES

The “Natural Beer” guarantee has been withdrawn from XXXX Gold because the lager lost head retention. Draught supplies have now returned to tetra processed hops, and packaged XXXX will follow. Lion Nathan chief brewer Bill Taylor explained that the foam issue involved interaction between hops and natural proteins, and tetra hops worked better. The beer’s distinctive Cluster natural hops remain. “We felt we had to act on feedback, and dropped the Natural Beer Promise to be true to the brand’s customers,” Mr Taylor said. The promise, introduced last October, still applies to Swan Draught, Toohey’s New and Old and West End.

Chuck Hahn’s latest craft beer project is the Kosciuszco Brewing Co. in the Perisher Valley, NSW. The Malt Shovel master brewer is installing a microbrewery at the Banjo Patterson Inn, Jindabyne, and plans to enjoy two of his passions. “I’ll go skiing in the morning, and then do some creative brewing after lunch,” he said after a ski holiday in Colorado.

By Vic Crossland

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