On August 10th I visited 10 Toes Brewery in Alexandra Headland, on the Sunshine Coast, of Queensland. Rupert, the owner/brewer, was very busy dealing with a couple of different restaurant owners from the area who would like to put 10 Toes beers on tap, but was still able to find time to have a chat with me and give me some samples of their beers to try.
The beers that I sampled were:
Blonde, 3.3% abv, this is a mid-strength Lager style beer with a golden straw colour and a subtle fruity aroma. The taste is a lovely sweet fruit one that is also smooth and crisp. Very sessionable!
Pipeline, 4.7% abv, this an American style Pale Ale that is amber in colour and has a subtle tropical and citrus fruit aroma. It has an initial taste of sweet malt and then nice fruity flavours with hints of tropical mango and melons, followed by a lovely hop bitter finish.
Rye Amber, 5.0% abv, this is an Amber Ale made with Rye. It has a dark amber colour and a subtle aroma of spice and malt. It has a complex malt flavour of caramel and spice and then hints of fruit before a good hop bitterness on the finish.
ESB, 5.2% abv, this is an amber coloured beer with a sweet malty aroma. It has a nice malty palate and then a gentle fruitiness and a mild bitter finish. Very good!!
West Coast IPA, 7.0% abv, this is a straw coloured IPA with a strong nose of citrus and tropical fruit. It is a hop driven Ale with lots of fruit flavours on top of a mild sweet malt base. It finishes with a good, lingering hop bitterness. Most enjoyable!
Vanilla Porter, 5.8% abv, this black coloured Porter is aged on whole Madagascan vanilla beans and has an aroma of vanilla, coffee and chocolate. It has a wonderful full malt flavour of dark chocolate, vanilla and espresso on a mild bitter finish. Very well balanced and delicious.
Covfefe, 5.4% abv, this is an American Brown Ale with a subtle aroma of roasted malt. It is made with a heap of Azaca hops, which give a sweet fruity flavour with hints of tangerine and mango before a nice hop bitter finish.
Dark Ale, 4.1% abv, this dark brown coloured Ale gives off subtle aromas of chocolate and coffee. It has a nice smooth malt flavour with good coffee hints. A wonderful dark ale.
The beers at 10 Toes were all excellent and well worth trying, they are available at the brewery and some other venues around the Sunshine Coast area. Keep an eye out for them! Thanks Rupert.