From Fresh, The West Australian, Jan 8

Among changes on the local brewing scene over the past year were two contrasting advances in the metropolitan area. Fremantle’s Little Creatures got a lot bigger and more high-tech, and the Old Swan Brewery changed its name and style and started brewing again.

The transformation at Little Creatures hardly shows for the customers, apart from a small drinks-only bar in the second “shed”. There’s still a jungle of shiny beer tanks next to the bar and restaurant in the original building, and the same beers flow from the taps.

But behind the scenes is a state-of-the-art, German-built, 10,000-litre, two-storey brewhouse which took a European team three months to commission. This not only doubled the thriving brewery’s capacity but revolutionised the process, made it “greener” and – according to head brewer Alex Troncoso – improved the taste of the beers.

He points to an osmosis unit which treats the water or “liquor”. “The beer has lost that salty edge that came from local mains water,” said Mr Troncoso, a chemical engineer who graduated in brewing from Ballarat and spent time in Belgium with Inbev before he “got the call” back to Little Creatures last year.

He’s surrounded by gleaming new computerised gear: automated grist mill which doesn’t spray grain dust; mash tun; lauter; holding vessels; central kettle with a vapour condenser to recover energy to pre-heat the following batch; and the mighty whirlpool which separates solids before fermentation.

“This advanced technology is just like a big brewery, but with smaller valves,” Mr Troncoso smiled. “We’re still a local brewery.”

There’s a new hop-back, to strain the beer through hop flowers for the hallmark aroma. The old one was a big basket of nostril-quivering delight. To traditionalists, the new hop-back is charmless – a small, innocuous-looking, odourless, stainless steel cylinder. Still, that’s progress. What counts is the finished product.

Little Creatures Pale Ale (5.2 per cent): Juicy tropical fruit on the nose, dry and firm on the palate, and long and fairly bitter at the end.

Bright (4.5 per cent): Aroma is citrus and passion-fruit from a saaz-style hop variety, sunshine colour translates to a fresh fruit tang and the mouthfeel is “bigger”, Mr Troncoso says, because “we have tighter control of the pH”. Nice summer ale.

Rogers’ Beer (3.8 per cent): Accomplished British-style amber ale with nut brown and plummy hints yet easy to drink. It’s superb, and after years of being overlooked, is gaining appreciation.

Pilsner (4.6 per cent): Pale-amber coloured Aussie-style lager and, despite several attempts to add depth, still pretty ordinary.

The Old Brewery (drop the word Swan) on Mounts Bay Road, Perth, has emerged from the doldrums as an up-market steakhouse. The small, copper-clad, one-man, hands-on brewhouse came out of mothballs, the mainstream taps were swept away and craft beers are again served at the bar a couple of metres from where they’re brewed.

Brewer Mark Reilly achieves good results, probably helped by a CV that includes a diploma in microbrewery management and stints at Ironbark, Duckstein, Elmar’s and Mash in the Swan Valley.

Mr Reilly has relished developing a range of draught beers – also bottled in small quantities as takeaway samples – to complement the dishes of beefsteak-fixated chef and manager Greg Faman of the Fraser’s Restaurant group.

“We held the WA Club Mad Brewers’ dinner here, presenting six different beers with the courses, and it went really well,” Mr Reilly said.

He and the chef love matching beer with food, and special seasonal brews are planned. Although wine tends to dominate on the website and menu, the opportunity shouldn’t be missed to sink Old Brewery beers with your meal.

Riverside Reserve (4.6 per cent): Aimed at the Bavarian helles style, the use of pilsener malt and European hops produces a crisp, dry, slightly grainy lager with an excellent fruity, citrus aroma. Try it with seafood entrees.

Angus Pale Ale (5.2 per cent): US-style floral, citrusy ale which would benefit from more bittering hops. Matches big-flavour meat or spicy dishes.

Brown Ale (5 per cent): Attributes of the North-of-England ale are there: nutty, biscuity, caramel smooth and fairly sweet. Goes with meaty mains or with the cheese board.

ALE TALE

Wadworth 6X (4.3 per cent)

During festive get-togethers, I was reintroduced to this English classic and instantly recalled what a tasty ale it is. Brewed in the Wiltshire town of Devizes for more than 80 years, it ought to be perfect . . . and it is, despite that no-no, cane sugar (3 per cent) in the mash. A touch of crystal among the pale barley malt lends brown-to-copper colour and highlights fruity toffee on the tongue. Hop character is restrained but impeccable for balance, with Fuggles in the kettle and Goldings flowers in the hop-back for a delicate, inviting herbal fragrance.

By Vic Crossland