On Sunday the 1st of October I visited the Matilda Bay Brewing Company Brewhouse in the Hunter Valley. Matilda Bay started brewing in Perth, Western Australia in 1986 and were one of the pioneers in craft beers. The brewery is named after a popular bay on the Swan River. The company has since been purchased by a big beer manufacturer but the makeup of some of the beers is still the same. At the Hunter Valley Brewhouse they only produce the Ginger Beer, they have the Stout made especially for them offsite and the remainder of the range are made by the big beer maker. Although I would rather promote independent breweries I gave their range a try to compare them with the original Matilda Bay beers of my memory.
The beers that I sampled were:
H.V.R. Alcoholic Ginger Beer, 4.0% abv, this has a cloudy appearance and is made to a 300 year old recipe. It has a strong ginger aroma and a spicy ginger flavour.
Beez Neez, 4.7% abv, this beer has a light straw colour and a sweet malt aroma. It has a sweet malty taste and then a crisp dry finish.
Ruby Tuesday, 4.7% abv, this is an amber coloured ale with a sweet toffee malt aroma. It has a nice malty flavour with hints of toffee and then a gentle bitterness on the finish.
Lazy Yak, 4.2% abv, this is an Australian style Pale Ale with a straw colour and a subtle passionfruit and citrus aroma. It has a strong sweet fruity flavour and a gentle bitterness.
Wild Yak, 4.2% abv, this is a Pacific Ale with a straw colour and a floral aroma. It has a nice fruit flavour of passionfruit and melon on a light crisp finish.
Alpha Pale Ale, 5.5% abv, this is a North American style ale with a subtle citrus fruit aroma. It has a sweet initial taste and then a big hop bitter finish.
Dirty Granny, 5.5% abv, this is a Cider with straw colour and a sweet apple aroma. It has a flavour of sweet apples and then a mild tart finish.
Minimum Chips, 4.7% abv, this is a golden coloured Lager with a malt aroma. It has a sweet malty taste and then a clean crisp dry finish.
Redback, 4.7% abv, this wheat beer was one of Matilda Bays originals. It has a golden straw colour and an aroma of bananas. It has a nice yeasty, banana wheat flavour.
Fat Yak, 4.7% abv, this is a golden coloured Ale with a floral aroma. It has strong fruity flavour and then a mild bitter finish.
Dogbolter, 5.2% abv, this is a dark Lager that is dark amber in colour with a strong caramel malt aroma. It was another one of the original Matilda Bay beers. The malt flavour is sweet with strong hints of caramel and toffee.
Stout, 5.8% abv, this is a black colour with a roasted malt aroma. It has a sweet malt flavour with tastes of chocolate and nuts. Nice!
The beers were all quite nice. Although, the Redback and the Dogbolter did not taste the way they used to. However, they were still enjoyable, just not as I remember them.
I would like to thank Adam for his hospitality when I visited. He is a young man with a passion for craft beers.
