When Chuck Hahn’s Mad Brewers put their off-beat ideas into seasonal one-batch releases, they obviously have fun. And they’ve come up with another extraordinary beer. Orchard Ale, which went on sale this week in bottle shops and on tap at three metropolitan bars, is fun to drink, too.

Despite apple content it is not a cider, but neither is it a normal farmhouse ale. It’s difficult to categorise, so just let the light-copper hued beer wash over the tonsils and enjoy.

A natural sour mash at Malt Shovel brewery, home of the James Squire range, provided the necessary acidity. Judicious use of top-notch hops contributed to a wine-like snap. Dr Hahn explained that the addition of English East Kent Goldings as well as the NZ Sauvin hops was not so much for bitterness as for a cleansing finish.

The ale has complexity without being challenging, evocative of Belgian beers due to the saison yeast. This fermentation creates the earthy, fresh harvest notes of farmhouse ale.

Then there’s the Mad Brewers’ twist. After primary fermentation, a 20 per cent blend of selected apple juices was added along with a French white-wine yeast to kick it into a secondary fermentation.

The juices were blended by James Kendell of Small Acres Cyder Company in NSW. He used Fuji, Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples to provide the desired degrees of tartness and apple blossom character.

The brewers had to reconcile the apple pectines with a less voluminous foam than usual, though the head is perfectly adequate.

As with previous limited releases, Mad Brewers Orchard Ale comes in 640ml brown bottles, packed in nine-bottle cases. Recommended retail price is $55 per case and $8 a bottle. Only 500 cases have been sent to WA, so you’re advised to get in quickly.

The ale is on tap at The Generous Squire and The Grosvenor Hotel in Perth and The Norfolk, Fremantle.

THE BEER

MAD BREWERS ORCHARD ALE (5 PER CENT)

A floral yet sharp aroma presages a slightly sour tartness with apple acidity on the front palate. This evens out to a mouth-filling fruitiness, lingering right through to the dry, wine-like aftertaste. While cider drinkers may enjoy this as much as beer lovers do, the apple juice influence in no way overshadows the firm ale character. Rather, the two are balanced in summery harmony.

WA ales nation’s favourites

Little Creatures Pale Ale has topped the Aussie Hot 100 on-line poll for the second successive year. Votes by hop-heads shaped the list of craft-brewed favourites, with Murray’s IPA and Matilda Bay Fat Yak making up the top three and WA’s Feral Hop Hog IPA coming in at No. 7. Just two of the first ten brews are not hop-oriented: White Rabbit dark ale and Knappstein Reserve, which is the only lager in the top 45.

Little Creatures of Fremantle and Swan Valley’s Feral Brewing took four of the top 20 spots with LC Pale and Bright and Feral Hop Hog and White Belgian wheat ale. Between them they accounted for most of the WA microbrews to make the Hot 100, with Colonial IPA and Kolsch, Nail Stout and Ale and Gage Roads IPA also scoring.

The poll organiser, The Local Taphouse of Melbourne and Sydney, announced the results on Australia Day.

QUICK ONES

Duckstein head brewer Paul Gasmier has left the South-West brewery to join Gage Roads in Palmyra. Mr Gasmier was involved with the Saracen Estate brewery venture from the start, setting up the German brewhouse and brewing a range of European-style beers. He said joining Gage Roads was “an excellent opportunity to further my career working on a full production facility that packages craft beer . . . and working with Aaron Heary (head brewer) was too good of an opportunity to miss.”

It’s the 75th anniversary of canned beer. Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company test marketed the world's first beer can in Richmond, Virginia. The idea took hold and US Census Bureau statistics show Americans now choose to buy most of their beer in cans rather than bottles. There’s a trend for craft breweries there to can it, too. Without dwelling on American tastes, let’s hope our brewers have the bottle to resist.

England’s national brewing museum at Burton-on-Trent has been saved. The former Bass Museum has been a magnet for visitors since 1977. Molson Coors took over, renamed it Coors Museum and closed it in 2008. Now the multinational has invested $420,000 and signed a 25 year lease with a management firm to run the iconic centre, pledging $110,000 annual funding, after the Campaign for Real Ale fought for the museum’s re-opening.

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