From Fresh, The West Australian, Feb 5

Packaging does not overly exercise a beer-lover until a six-pack falls apart and drops a bottle on his bare foot. It happened when I was putting some global premium lager in the beer fridge. The pack was one of those with two carrying holes hidden among the protruding long necks where only pianists with slender elongated fingers can reach. I don’t play piano.

Gripping the pack by a bottle neck, I removed an end bottle. The whole edifice instantly went pear-shaped, the tiny cardboard tags holding the other end bottle couldn’t manage the strain and the missile scored a precision hit on my big toe. It still throbs at the memory.

Such pain concentrates the mind on beer packs. Certain attributes are non-negotiable: they must be able to be carried easily in one hand; be strongly built so as not to waft about and shed their load; have cardboard separating the bottles so they don’t clank; and finally, they can be used time after time to carry any similar-sized bottles to parties and barbecues.

So how does the eastern States brewing company St Arnou stack up as the only liquor brand to win gold at the recent Australian Packaging Awards? As well as commending the bottle shape and clean graphics, judges gave credit to the premium beer six-pack sleeve for its fully branded face on the front, back and both ends.

“The sheer sophistication of this label and pack combination elevates a local independent beer to the level of the world's finest premium brands,” said the council’s education and community awareness manager, Prudence Frost.

The St Arnou six-pack is fairly efficient because the finger-thumb carrier holes are on its flat top. The bottles are secured by their crown caps. Once a bottle is removed, the others might shift a little, but high sides still hold them in the box.

But leaving out the branding, the pack surely shouldn’t be rated the best because you cannot refill it: once the beer is drunk, you chuck the wrapping away. And with all the concern about extraneous packaging clogging the landfill sites, that’s not clever.

What is clever is the beer pack that meets the aforementioned criteria. In the trade it’s called a “basket”, though Nail Brewing founder-brewer John Stallwood calls his Nail Ale six-pack the “toolbox”. It is as sturdy as the steel-effect artwork suggests. Its carry handle and easy access to the contents make it a useful item to keep. It will hold a full complement of six bottles, or just one or two. And when used al fresco, it’s ideal for taking the empties home – which you cannot do with some brands, especially the stubbies packed in shrink-wrapped cardboard trays.

Mr Stallwood has spent much effort on packaging and for top-award-winning Nail Stout devised a fully enclosed pack to enable long storage of the unfiltered oatmeal brew. The box has side slots for easy carrying and a lid so it can be re-used.

Bootleg Brewing has a similar selection box, with peek-a-boo sides displaying the labels. And Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale comes in a solid deluxe six-pack with display windows and elaborate fold-over lid with carry slot that I’ve been using for a year.

But generally the handy re-usable basket six-pack dominates among Australia’s craft brewers. It’s the type adopted by Gage Roads for its regular beers such as popular Wahoo light ale and estimable IPA as well as the World Tour series including London Best and New World Wheat – though it strayed in my view by putting Kutt low-carb in an unwieldy - if stylishly decorated - throw-away pack.

Coopers Vintage Ale has to have the carry-handle pack because the evolving beer is meant to be drunk one bottle at a time over a couple of years. James Squire is another big name that plumps for this style of pack.

Victorian microbrewed Holgate Pilsner, one of the best domestic examples of the Czech lager, is in the good company of world renowned breweries such as Bavaria’s Hofbrau and Fullers of Britain with a handled carry-basket six-pack. It’s a case of quality beer, quality packaging.

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QUICK ONES

Clancy’s Fish Pub has scored a coup with Redoak’s Honey Ale on tap at the Fremantle bar. Honey Ale (4.9 per cent) is a light-bodied refreshing Australian pale ale infused with Tasmanian Leatherwood honey, giving it floral and musk flavour and aroma, balanced with delicate hop bitterness. Redoak’s award-winning craft range – once so rare it was available only at one Sydney restaurant – is now sold in bottles at the International Beer Shop in West Leederville and Cellarbrations at Carlisle.

Entries for the Australian International Beer Award in Melbourne have now closed, with WA breweries well represented. Fremantle’s Mad Monk is contesting for the first time with four entries – Australian pale ale (Aus), kolsch (Rogue), Belgian blonde (Freja) and rauchbier (Stone). Mad Monk’s new head chef is incorporating the craft beers in dishes – such as Centurion porter in a dessert mousse named Portermisu – and using spent yeast and grain from the brewhouse in breads and pizza bases.

By Vic Crossland