G’day Guys and welcome to the new monthly wrap up/accountability post on Beer O’Clock Australia. The idea I have is that I’ll put this post up in roughly the first week of each month & it will hopefully encourage me to finish this project at some point! I’ve already given up on the idea of finishing it this year with the amount of stuff I still have to do this year; I think a more realistic target is mid-2024.

Year of the Local

The state of play. In May I did a significant cull of the list, as well as adding a number of breweries that I had previously missed. Currently according to my list there are 234 breweries/brewing companies in Victoria. Despite the reduction in numbers, the other numbers have increased! Currently I have 98 posts to right, beers from 37 brands to try & 20 breweries to visit. Due to the number of changes I will update the master list rather than document them all here.

May was incredibly busy and saw me only visit 1 brewery & it wasn’t in Victoria! I visited Bentspoke in Canberra whilst up there visiting my grandmother and friends. I didn’t have a beer from a new Victorian brewer.

Untappd

I’ve been slightly surprised how many comments/questions I’ve gotten since I stopped doing the Untappd posts. I mean there’s a very easy way you can find this data… In any case I got 21 badges in May, 19 of which were unique. The duplicates were:

  • Super Style: American IPA (2)
  • Better Together (2)

Super Style: American IPA (Level 21) – The badge is self explanatory, the yellow ring denoting that it’s an Untappd Supporter’s Only badge. Unlocked at the Exit IPA at Dylan’s whilst recording the latest podcast episode.

Better Together (Level 91) – This level was unlocked by the Banks collaboration with Inkhorn from Japan – About The Seagulls. It was a really interesting take on a West Coast IPA, quite dry with plenty of bitterness.

Caskville (Level 2) – Given the paucity of cask offerings in this country, there’s a chance this is the last time I’ll unlock this badge for a long time. Unlocked by the delicious Fugg N’ Chino, a roasty English Porter that really benefited from the cask pour.

Sky’s the Limit (Level 100) – The badge for drinking 10%+ beers is finally done! I’m not sure that’s a good thing… Wolf of the Willows Lark BA Imperial JSP V was the beer with the honour of being the last! I loved the smoke and whisky character from it.

To the Port (Level 37) – Tar Barrel is the now relatively recently independent brewery on the old Mornington brewery site – I really should write the YOTL post for them as I get a lot of questions about them! Their core range is very good although the distribution doesn’t go far. The Process Porter is a classic roasty Porter, very easy drinking.

Beer of the Week

Week 18 – Boatrocker Jackjet

I’ve wanted to try this beer since it was first released. I missed out at the original release, but Carwyn’s Cellar Sale opened the opportunity. I genuinely think this is the best Australian Imperial Stout ever brewed, it was incredibly balanced & the barrel character was superb! If you get the opportunity to buy one, pay whatever you need to to acquire it!

Week 19 – Good Land Something Something Vic Secret

The first beer to pickup two Beer of the Week awards for the year is Good Land’s Something Something Vic Secret. I had this one on tap at Kekou, really good food by the way, at the start of Dylan’s Bucks Party.

Week 20 – Bojak Royal Flush

Living down at Somers has made picking up beers locally a little harder than being in Melbourne. The local IGA thankfully has a good range of local stuff including all the new Bojak limiteds. I’m doing my best to make sure that stays the same by buying plenty of them. This is a beautifully balanced Red IPA with loads of malt and pine bitterness.

Week 21 – The Bruery Poached Fig

Another beer from the Carwyn Cellar Sale – Poached Fig lived up to it’s name. It was an incredibly cool beverage with loads of fig and vanilla notes. It presented almost like a Pedro Ximenez before it warmed up a little. Fascinating beer!

Other Stuff

May saw Copper make some big steps forward. He now has a couple of human friends he likes on the beach – although is still wary of middle aged men he doesn’t know. Him and Jimmy are having a little dominance battle at the moment, but clearly like each other as seen in the photo above. Anyway, I think this has been reasonably comprehensive. Let me know if you’ve got any thoughts or anything you’d like to see added to this over the coming months at angus@beeroclockaustralia.com.

Remember it’s always Beer O’Clock somewhere in the world!