On Sunday the 26th of November I visited The Dainton Family Brewery in Carrum Downs, Victoria. The brewery has been open for just over a year. It is owned and operated by a father and son team of Kevin and Dan. They have a spacious bar area with a beer garden and a view of the brewery. They regularly have live music for entertainment and they also make wood fired pizzas.
The brewery is very modern with a three vessel brewhouse, large fermentation tanks, bright tanks and their own canning line. They also have a few oak barrels for ageing some special beers.
The bar has eighteen beers on tap with a core range of five and the rest rotating. The core beers are Pale, IPA, XSA , Red Eye Rye and Draught.
The beers that I sampled were:
1. XSA, Extra Session Ale, 3.5% abv, this has a golden colour and a fruit and pine aroma. It has a sweet malt and fruit flavour before a generous hop bitter finish. Sessionable.
2. Oktoberfest Lager, 5.3% abv, this is a Marzen style with a golden colour and a malt aroma. It has a sweet malty caramel taste and a gentle fruit hop bitterness on a crisp finish.
3. Draught, 4.5% abv, this has a golden colour and a malt aroma. It is easy drinking with a malt flavour and a clean crisp finish.
4. Red Eye Rye, 4.8% abv, this has a hazy amber colour and a fruity aroma. It has a spicy fruit flavour and then a good bitter finish.
5. Pale, 5.2% abv this is an American Pale Ale with a golden colour and a citrus aroma. It has a sweet maltiness before a citrus flavour on a mild bitter finish.
6. Passionfruit Belgian Pale Ale, 4.3% abv, this has a cloudy straw colour and a passionfruit and banana yeast aroma. It has a sweet banana flavour with passionfruit on the finish.
7. Blood Orange New England Rye IPA, 6.0% abv, this has a light orange cloudy appearance and a citrus orange aroma. It has a juicy, fruity orange flavour on a gentle bitter finish.
8. IPA, 6.0% abv, this has a golden colour and a citrus aroma. It has a sweet fruity flavour and then a generous hop bitter finish.
9. All Black IPA, 6.5% abv, this has a black colour and a roasted malt and Christmas cake fruit aroma. It has a sweet mixed fruity flavour with lime and chocolate hints. Different and delicious.
10. Saffron in My Rye, Belgian IPA, 5.9% abv, this has a fluorescent yellow colour and a spicy banana and bubblegum aroma. It has a peppery citrus and banana flavour with a mild bitterness on the finish.
11. Hop Smack, 9.6% abv, this has a golden colour and a strong citrus hop aroma. It has a fruity flavour before a big resinous, lingering hop bitter finish. This is all about the hops.
12. ESB, 6.0% abv, this has an amber colour and a caramel and toffee aroma. It has a malty toffee flavour before a fruitiness on a mild bitter finish.
13. Blood Orange Berliner Weisse, 3.5% abv, this has a pale orange colour and a slightly sour citrus aroma. It has a citrus zing feeling on the palate with a slightly tart tangy dry finish. Refreshing.
14. Granny’s Cranny Gose, 4.5% abv, this has a straw colour and a sour aroma. It has a complex flavour that is sweet before a gentle tart salty finish. 200kg of cranberries were used in this beer.
15. New World Black Lager, 4.8% abv, this has a black colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a malty flavour of roasted coffee, chocolate and spiciness and then a mild citrus hop fruit taste.
16. Brown Eye Rye, 6.0% abv, this has a dark brown colour and a subtle roasted malt and chocolate aroma. It has a nice sweet chocolate flavour with a gentle spiciness. This was their GABS entry for 2017.
17. Rum Soaked Raisin, Belgian Quad, 11.2% abv, this has a dark amber colour and a subtle soaked fruit aroma. It has a smooth, rich, fruity, sweet caramel and buttery flavour. Quite delicious!
18. Black Forest Russian Imperial Stout, 11.0% abv, this has a black colour and a dark creamy head with a strong, rich fruity aroma. It has a smooth, strong flavour of all the things that make Imperial Stouts so f@#*ing magnificent with a slight cherry sourness on the finish. Wow!
19. Double Red Imperial Amber, 7.5% abv, this has a copper colour and a caramel and fruit aroma. It has a lovely sweet fruitiness and a caramel malt taste. It is rich, flavoursome and enjoyable on a mild bitter finish.
20. Oatmeal Stout, 5.5% abv, this has a black colour and a roasted coffee aroma. It has a strong malt palate of espresso on a gentle bitter finish.
The Dainton Family Brewery have a very extensive selection of fantastic beers. If you can’t find one you like among this range then you don’t like beer. The venue is great, the beers are delicious, what more could you ask for. I strongly recommend visiting this brewery.
I would like to thank Harley for his time and hospitality when I visited.