By Vic Crossland

Fremantle’s Sail & Anchor has raised the bar for this year’s FeBREWary(SUBS:OK) celebration. International Craft Beer Showcase Month starts on Monday January 31and carries on daily until February 27. Pub manager and self-confessed beer geek Matt Marinich must be congratulated. Determined to show “we are all about hand-crafted beer and that we support craft breweries worldwide”, he’s assembled a dream line-up covering monastic European classics, Scandinavian “gypsy” brews and adventurous beers invented at New World microbreweries. And they’re all from kegs, not bottles.

  About 40 beers from 13 breweries in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and the United States will be on tap at the Sail’s bars. Some, such as Weihenstephaner Hefe Weiss cloudy wheat beer from the world’s oldest brewery, have been served draught around Perth for some time. But “it will be the first time some of these beers have been poured in WA”, Mr Marinich said.

  Fifteen or 16 taps will be dedicated to the international range. “We’re putting each brewery’s beers on a couple of taps, and replacing emptied kegs with the same brewery’s next beer,” Mr Marinich said.

   For example, there are seven from Scotland’s Brew Dog Brewery - renowned for outrageously strong and off-beat beers – ranging from pale lager to cheek-caving bitter ales such as Hardcore IPA. Rogue of the US also presents seven choices, including its big-flavour Christmas special. In contrast, England’s Meantime has just one style on tap, its acclaimed IPA.

   Belgian classics include the strong Bons Voeux ale released annually by Dupont as a festive “greeting” to customers, and Lindemanns fruit beers.

  For $20, customers will get a free middy and a “beer passport” which they can fill in with personal tasting notes and scores. This will be stamped as each beer is tasted, so that dedicated beer enthusiasts can work their way through the whole range at their own pace - perhaps just a pint a day. Or, as Mr Marich puts it, “as you travel the beer world in 28 days”.

  Prices are a reasonable $10-$12 a pint for full-strength beers, and about $10 a middy for extra-strong styles.

  The Sail’s regular beers are not forgotten, and will remain on 10 taps. On Fridays at 5pm, 20-litre firkins of local craft brews will be tapped. And Febrewary customers can win a 50-litre keg of WA-brewed Sail & Anchor IPA by signing a flyer, the winner to be announced on Saturday February 26.

International beers on tap

BREW DOG: 77 Lager, Dark Lager, Trashy Blonde,  Punk IPA, Hardcore IPA, 5 am Saint and Dogma; WEIHENSTEPHANER: Hefe Weiss and Pilsner; WELTENBURGER KLOSTER: Helles (Bavarian golden lager) and Dunkel (dark lager); SUNNER: Kolsch; DUPONT: Saison (farmhouse ale) and Bons Voeux; BARBAR: Honey Wheat and Tripel; BOCQ: Blanche de Numar; LINDEMANNS: Kriek and Peche; MEANTIME: India Pale Ale; MIKKELLER: Beer Geek Breakfast, Czech Pils, Monks Elixir, 1000 IBU, Nelson Alive and Vesterbro Red; NOGNE-O: Pale Ale, God Paske, Wit, Red Horizon (rice ale); RENAISSANCE: Perfection Pale,  Craftsman Stout; EPIC: Armageddon IPA, Pale Ale. 8 WIRED:  Hopwired IPA, Tall Poppy IRA. ROGUE: Dead Guy Ale, Brutal Bitter, Hazelnut Brown Ale, Red Fox Amber, Summer Honey Orange Ale, Yellow Snow Ale, Santa’s Private Reserve.

ALE TALE

INFINIUM (10.5 PER CENT)

Supplies of a sensational brew landed in Fremantle last week(SUBS: Jan 18) and should reach the shelves of specialist stores about now. It’s sensational not only because of multiple-fermentation with both lager and ale yeasts, but because it melds the brewing arts of the old and new worlds. Weihenstephan, the royal Bavarian brewery started by monks 1000 years ago, and Boston Brewing Company, which pioneered the 20th century American revival of traditional brewing with Samuel Adams ale, collaborated to produce this super-beer. It comes in a champagne-style corked bottle and will probably sell for $30-$40.

   Dark gold in colour, with warm orange glints and champagne-like bubbles, Infinium has some sparkling wine characters such as citric acidity while hop and malt beer notes mark the caramel and tropical fruit aroma. Soft and creamy in the mouth, it finishes dry and crisp.

 Infinium will be launched officially at the Sail & Anchor on Monday February 21 by Weihenstephan’s brand manager and Australian agent Phoenix Beers of Perth. 

Beer for Fresh Jan 27

By  Vic Crossland

Sail Febrewary Matt Marinich Sail & Anchor manager.  Weihenstephaner  Lager on tap from world’s oldest brewery. Infinium

Super-brew.