On Friday the 29th of September I visited the town of Morpeth in New South Wales to go to the Commercial Hotel, which is the present home of the Morpeth Brewery and Beer Co.. The brewery has been operating there since 2012, when their first beer was poured on ANZAC day.
However, they are expanding and moving their operation down the road to Beresfield where they will trading as The Riverport Brewery or RPB to those in the know. When this happens they will have a bigger brewery and also a cellar door and bar area as well as a bottling and a canning line to help put their beers out to a larger audience. Dave Allen, a Canadian, is the brewer and owner of the brewery and his North American heritage comes through in the range of beers he produces. He is very excited about the expansion and move.
The beers that I sampled were:
Close Call Pale Ale, 5.2% abv, this is a North American style Pale Ale with a hazy golden colour and a subtle hop fruit aroma. It has a nice fruity taste and then a good hop bitterness on the finish.
Pumpkin Ale, 5.0% abv, this beer has a golden colour and a spicy aroma. It has a sweet, spicy taste and is true to the style.
Trade Winds India Pale Ale, 6.0% abv, this beer has a straw colour and a floral aroma. It has sweet fruity initial flavour and then a generous bitterness on the finish.
Black Tractor, 6.6% abv, this is a double black IPA. It is a dark amber colour with a subtle malt aroma. The taste is of sweet malt and then a mild hop bitter finish.
Match Double, 7.0% abv, this is a double red IPA. It has an amber colour and strong citrus fruit aroma. It has an initial flavour of sweet fruit then a slightly sour hop bitter finish.
The beers were all very enjoyable. The brewery also produces a Pilsner, a Special Bitter, an ESB called Big Hitter at 5.4% abv, and a Maple Porter called Mullet Run at 5.0% abv. They sounded very nice but were not available when I was there unfortunately.
I would recommend visiting the new premises of The Riverport Brewery in Beresfield when they open their cellar door to give their selection of great beer a try.
