By Vic Crossland

Australia Day is for celebrating everything Aussie – and that just has to include beer. The usual mainstream and trendy big brand “premium” lagers obviously will be in evidence. However, bearing in mind that beer meant ale from the time of Capt. Cook’s landing until the early 20^th century, perhaps it’s more fitting to choose tradition brews for holiday gatherings.

   Since the rise of microbrewing, WA and the country as a whole offer many pale ales. Perhaps the most iconic - each with a hint of yeasty cloudiness as in early settlement  days - are Little Creatures and Coopers.

   Little Creatures Pale Ale (5.2 per cent) is New World style, with tropical fruit aroma and flavours, dry and firm on the palate, and long and bitter at the end. In recent years the Fremantle brew has become a national favourite, helping change perceptions of beer appreciation. 

   Coopers Pale Ale (4.5 per cent), named Australia’s best full strength beer and best tap beer at the annual Australian Liquor Industry Awards (ALIA) in Sydney last October, has a much longer history. When all the other big brewers converted to lager, the Cooper family stuck to ale and its distinctive yeast defined Australian ale. Pale – the one with the green cap and label – has overtaken the stronger, cloudier red-label Coopers Sparkling Ale with a new generation of ale drinkers. Because there’s secondary fermentation in the bottle, some aficionados still roll it before pouring to achieve the hallmark appearance and enhance the robust fruit flavour and hop spiciness. 

  Some of the tastiest drops are seasonals. Brewed with extra dedication in single batches for limited release, they tend to be snapped up as soon as they hit the shelves. A case in point is Bootleg Bitter Beer, a deep-copper-coloured, 5.3 per cent, English-style extra special bitter ale, which added interest to my festive season. Alas, as cricket-fanatic Bootleg brewer Michael Brookes told me last week: “Like the Ashes, the ESB is gone.” If you saved a six-pack or two in December, you’re advised to open a few bottles on the 26^th  and make your friends jealous.

   Bootleg Settler’s Pale (4.8 per cent) is perennial, however. The hoppy ale has the citrus and floral tones of imported US hops, but subtly realised. Perfect balance with malty flavours makes this a refreshing drink with satisfying character.

   Nail Ale (4.7 per cent) has credentials as an Australian pale ale honed over a decade by Perth’s John Stallwood. He’s always used Tasmanian Pride of Ringwood bittering hops and the ale, also gains aromatic finesse from European Hallertau hops. Fresh because there’s no filtering, Nail Ale is on tap at selected bars including the newly opened Clancy’s at City Beach, and bottling is only periodic. Ask at specialist shops whether any of the current batch remains.

  Feral’s flagship Hop Hog (5.8 per cent) is, as the name suggests, one for people who can’t get enough hops. The India pale ale undergoes primary fermentation in new French oak barrels before being returned to stainless steel tanks for final processing and carbonation. The wood adds vanilla hints on the nose and the American hops impart hallmark pine needle and grapefruit character to this flavoursome bitter ale.

Gage Roads Sleeping Giant is another WA craft IPA. The 5.4 per cent, re-fashioned India pale ale, dry hopped for a herbal, grassy aroma, carries dark stone fruit and citrus flavours on a clean, sweet-and-dry palate with a rewarding long and complex finish.

  Gage Roads Atomic Pale Ale (4.7 per cent) is suited to those accustomed to the fruity floral sensations of  US hops - Citra, Ahtanum, and Centennial in this case  – and is also dry-hopped. Fairly bitter and with medium body, Atomic golden ale radiates amiability. 

It’s wise to provide some low-alcohol beer at social gatherings, and Sail and Anchor Clipper Light fits the bill at 2.7 per cent. Gage Roads brews the lager in WA for national distribution. Promotional blurb calls it “a light beer which is lower in alcohol yet retains that classic full strength beer flavour”. And it is fuller in body, fruit flavour and bitterness than is usual from beer of this ilk. Don’t swig from the bottle:  poured into a glass, the white-topped golden lager appears full-strength and saves jibes.

Written by Vic Crossland.

From Fresh, The West Australian, 20^th January.