On June 29th I visited the Coral Sea Brewery in Cairns. They are on Lake street in the heart of town. The brewery specialises in producing keg beers for other bars to sell. They have a primary range that includes: Tropical Lager, TropicAle, Session Ale and a Wheatbeer. I was lucky enough to get to try a couple.
Tropical Lager, 4.2% abv, this is a straw coloured beer with a mild yeast aroma. It is made with Kolsch yeast and is smooth drinking with hints of tropical fruit on a crisp dry finish. This should appeal to most mainstream beer drinkers.
TropicAle, 4.2% abv, this New World style Ale is golden coloured with an aroma of sweet tropical fruit. It has a subtle initial palate of sweet biscuit malt and then transitions into a mild yet complex hop bitter finish. Very, very nice.
I was also lucky enough to sample a wonderful, small batch Ale that they keep for special occasions.
Barrel Aged Barley Wine, 10.5% abv, this is a limited production beer with only 400 litres being made, it spends 70 ish days in rum barrels. It is amber in colour and has a magnificent lychee aroma. It has a great sweet full fruit flavour with spicy tones. Lovely and lethal.
If you come across Coral Sea Brewery beers in your travels they are definitely worth giving a try.