Brewhouse Blog
Brewer’s Special – IBA
December 22, 2011India Black Ale – 5.7% abv
This hybrid beer marries together two outstanding styles and breeds something entirely new! Malts used include Australian pale and wheat malt, English crystal, German black and a special toasted malt. Hops include American Tomahawk, Simcoe, Cascade, Willamette, New Zealand Motueka and Australian Galaxy.
IBA as a style emerged in America as a bridge between the sweeter, darker styles such as the American Brown Ale and the hop driven India Pale Ale (IPA). A firm malt backbone and a restrained roasted character with hints of chocolate & coffee from the black malt is complemented by the tropical fruit aroma & flavour of the hops.
The complexity of this IBA is deceptive – as you begin you are presented with a complexity of flavours and a full body, yet it finishes quite dry with a pleasant, lingering bitterness making this the perfect summer black! Match it up with our amazing BBQ Pork Ribs!
Witty Wit
October 25, 2011
As a brewer, it can be quite daunting to step up and tackle some of the more challenging styles of beer – one of the scariest is the Belgian Wit! In any brew, there is a delicate balance of flavours that can be upset by the slightest change of recipe or by simply not taking the greatest of care, so when it came time to tackle “The Great White” for the first time, it had to be with the closest attention to detail, and luckily, that is something that our brewer Johann prides himself upon, but to be certain of doing it justice, he enlisted the help of Sims from Brewer’s Choice – a man with a wealth of experience and a great knowledge of this particular style.
The Belgian Wit is an unfiltered wheat beer that utilises unmalted wheat and oats to give it the silky mouthfeel and body that we so easily associate with the style. The spicy aroma is attained by using a type of special yeast for fermentation as well as both orange peel and coriander late in the kettle boil. These “out of the ordinary” ingredients would commonly be called “Gruit” in the original style and were traditionally used without hops. This creates a refreshing flavour that is just right for our hot summer days!
Make sure you get a taste of this spectacular beer before it is all gone!
Waking up to a New Brew
October 18, 2011
"Wake Up and Smell the Coffee"
Shot in the Dark
The “Shot in the Dark – Coffee Porter” is BrisbaneBrewing Co.’s first ever joint venture. We’ve teamed up with Merlo Coffee to produce an infused beer! Unlike our honey wheat beer, where the honey is part of the “wort” (that’s what it’s called once you have all the ingredients mixed, but before the beer begins brewing), the Shot in the Dark is first brewed as an English Brown Porter, and is then infused with Merlo’s incredible coffee extraction.
The combination of the already sweet maltiness and robust character of the Porter and the rich flavour and aroma of coffee, we’re sure you’ll agree that we’ve created the perfect partnership and a truly fabulous product. “Wake up and smell the coffee!”
Porter: a style of dark ale made popular in 18th centuryLondon that is typically brewed in the present day using a blend of pale, crystal and roasted malts. Specifically, our Porter uses a blend of English crystal malt and two types of roasted malt. Not as strong as Stout (Stout Porter as it was known in the olden days), a Porter is packed with the flavours that a Stout is known for, but with a more sessionable alcohol content of 4.9% ABV.
This is what we started with, and then we brought it out of the dark ages, waking it up so to speak with a shot of caffeine! Using the finest extraction of coffee – supplied to us by our friends at Merlo Coffee in Albion – we have created a brew that delivers (obviously) a robust coffee flavour and aroma supported by a subtle blend of vanilla, chocolate and almonds.
