From Fresh, The West Australian, Dec. 11

People took to low-carbohydrate beers hoping to shrink the paunch and impress fellow gym jocks and joggers. Now it’s not enough to fret about personal fitness – brewers want to help the planet’s health, too. Cue in “green beer”.

This term once was applied to any brew served before it had matured properly, too “young” to drink. Today, it’s shorthand for environmentally appropriate beer. Drink green and, while not necessarily becoming an instant tree-hugger, you can feel good about yourself.

Proof that the green theme is taking hold comes with a WA craft beer, Indi Green. Not only is the draught lager extra fermented at the Mindarie microbrewery to get rid of most of the residual sugar, but it is totally organic and Indian Ocean Brewing is in the process of having it stamped and certified as such.

The eco-beer trend really blossomed in Australia with the launch of Cascade Green, which goes a step beyond mere low-carb by being “a 100 per cent carbon-offset” brew.

This means that, since the Hobart brewery reduced its environmental footprint, the impact of greenhouse gas emissions associated with its “green” lager – from picking the hops to putting bottles in the recycling bin – is zero.

The marketing people added to its credentials last month by providing free cycle-taxi rides on Cascade Green “peda pods” in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Even the advertising hoardings featured growing plants, later donated to community gardens.

As with all low-carb lagers, Cascade Green is fermented for longer than usual to cut the carbohydrate level to 30 per cent of other beers. There are no preservatives or added sugar – all malt, in other words. The price - $16 per 6-pack of 330ml bottles – is fair.

THE BEERS

Indi Green Low Carb Lager (4.7 per cent)

Light amber in colour, light in body and rather soapy on the tongue, Indi Green is dry from long fermentation. The use of a high-alpha hop variety for aroma and bitterness seems to have little effect, however, a group of us sampling the draught lager agreed. One the other hand, feedback from members of the public at a community festival in Perth gave Indi Green top marks.

Cascade Green (4.5 per cent)

Despite the pale yellow colour, the beer exudes a full-strength fruity aroma when poured. This is its best feature, probably down to the use of Aussie Galaxy hops. After that there’s the faintest of hop and malty notes and a lot of sweetness. This is another clean, crisp, refreshing lager on the market, but with the bonus of environmental worthiness. One of Australia’s savviest retailers rates Cascade Green as Australia’s best session lager, regardless of its other credentials.

ALE TALE

Coopers Extra Strong Vintage Ale 2008 (7.5 per cent)

The release of Coopers Vintage Ale is an annual treat for Australia’s serious beer buffs, and the 2008 vintage – the seventh - is guaranteed to please. English ale hop varieties Fuggle and Goldings plus Aussie Pride of Ringwood bittering hops add complexity and balance along with fruity orange peel aroma. Australian pale and crystal malted barley impart the copper-brown colour and pine-nut, toffee and soft fruit flavours. Already rewarding, these will develop with extended cellaring as yeast works in the bottle. If you had the foresight to save a bottle or two of the 2007 vintage, you can enjoy a preview: The off-white foam head darkens, orchard fruits and banana emerge on the nose, flavours become more rounded with intensified caramel, toffee, plum and subtle mocha coffee notes, it all becomes even longer and warm on the palate and the bitter finish is softened and sweeter. Meanwhile, the 2008 batch is here to relish with a grainy freshness overlaying the evolving ale characters. Drink it with the Christmas roasts.

QUICK ONES

Australia’s Barons Black Wattle Original Ale was voted number one by customers at 717 J.D. Wetherspoon pubs in Britain after the chain’s international beer festival. Black Wattle was brewed at Marston’s famous brewery and served on handpumps. The ale is available in WA in bottles. “To win No.1 beer is a great result for Barons and Australian beer; just another example of something the Poms invented yet have lost to the Aussies,” Barons managing director Scott Garnett said.

Former Matilda Bay brewer Brad Rogers who left to set up a craft brewery in Byron Bay, NSW, has put his first independent beer on tap at several pubs in the town. Stone and Wood Draught Ale is made with pale barley malt and wheat, unfiltered and unpasteurised.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it