On August 26th I visited Bacchus Brewing Co. in Capalaba, Queensland. The brewery/ bar is in an industrial area but is a great venue with heaps of seating inside and out. They only make small batches of beers and as such are able to produce an extensive range, some of them quite unique. The beers that I sampled were:
- Nitro Kolsch, 4.4% abv, this is a straw coloured beer with a subtle malt aroma. It has a mild malt taste and then a clean crisp dry finish. Easy drinking.
- Gig- 40, 4.5% abv, this is a Pilsner style beer with a golden straw colour and a subtle sweet aroma. It has a sweet initial taste and then a mild bitterness on a dry finish. Refreshing
- Qld Ale, 4.8% abv, this is an Australian style Pale Ale with a golden straw colour and a subtle honey aroma. It is made with Macadamia honey and wattleseed. It has a sweet, gentle honey initial taste and then a distinctive bitterness on the finish. Very nice.
- Bayside Breeze, 1.15% abv, this is an extremely low alcohol IPA designed to be a beer for the driver. It has a golden colour and a creamy head with a lovely sweet honey and citrus hop aroma. It has a light flavour but a good hop finish. Easy drinking for the skipper.
- Bayside Pale, 3.2% abv, this is another low alcohol IPA with a golden colour and a subtle sweet citrus hop aroma. It is well balanced with a nice sweet malt start and then a good citrus hop bitter finish. Sessionable.
- Bacchus APA, 5.0% abv, this is an American style Pale Ale with a golden colour and a subtle sweet malt aroma. It has a great malt initial palate of biscuit and then transitions into a nice hop bitterness on the finish. Very good.
- Jam Donut, 6.7% abv, this is a golden straw coloured beer with a good white head and an amazing strong aroma of jam donuts. The taste is sweet and very much like drinking a jam donut, all the flavours are there, and then a gentle bitter finish. Delicious!
- Peanut Brittle Gose, 5.0% abv, this is an amber colour with a sweet toffee and peanut aroma. It has a wonderful, smooth, sweet toffee and peanut initial taste and then a well balanced salty finish. Unusual and brilliant!
- Salted Caramel, 8.8% abv, this is a dark amber coloured beer with a strong sweet caramel aroma. It has a wonderful burnt caramel flavour and then transitions into mild bitter finish. Excellent!
- Blackheart Porter, 6.3% abv, I had this Porter from the hand pump, it is black with a dark chocolate aroma. It has smooth, malty palate with a great, strong taste of dark chocolate and then a good, lingering bitter finish.
- Oatmeal Stout, 6.0% abv, this is black Stout with an aroma of coffee. It has a nice smooth mouth feel and lovely malt flavour with a good espresso taste and then a mild hop bitter finish. Cascade hops are used in this one to add a slight sourness. Very nice.
- Balt Action, 10.3% abv, this is a dark brown colour with a subtle sweet aroma. It has a nice smooth mouth feel and a sweet malt flavour with good hints of caramel and toffee. Very, very good.
- Sabrestaff Imperial Red, 10.2% abv, this is an American red IPA with an amber colour and a spicy fruit aroma. It has a wonderful smooth, sweet, spicy fruit flavour and then a mild bitterness. There are lots of different flavours in this beer.\
- Old Jamaica, 8.0% abv, this beer has a black appearance with a sweet chocolate and subtle coffee aroma. It has a great sweet malt flavour with good hints of dark chocolate and raisins and then a mild roasted coffee finish. Yum!
- War and Peat, 12% abv, this beer is aged for five years in oak barrels, it has a black colour with a creamy head and a strong aroma of peated whiskey. It has a great rich, peaty flavour that is smooth like a good single malt whiskey. A great beer. Wow!
- Peaty Blinders, 5.0% abv, this is a dark amber colour with a sour Shiraz wine aroma. It has a super, sour, peaty taste. Although it has a strong sour flavour it is very drinkable with a lingering sourness. A real puckerer!
- The Masters Bitter, 3.4% abv, this is an amber colour with a spicy sweet aroma. It has a mild malt taste and then a gentle bitterness. Very easy drinking.
- Big Hook ESB, 5.1% abv, this beer has a golden amber colour and a sweet toffee malt aroma. It has lovely sweet malty toffee palate and a good bitter finish. True to the style.
- Brewcastle Brown, 4.5% abv, this is an amber coloured brown ale, very much like the one that comes from Newcastle in England, with a malty aroma. It has a nice malty taste of toffee and is very smooth drinking. No bollocks!
- Blackadder Goes Forth, 8.5% abv, this is a Scottish Ale that has a dark brown/ amber colour and a smoky, spicy aroma. It has a great sweet, spicy malt flavour and then a gentle bitterness. True to the style and very good.
- Islay Reserve, 16.0% abv, this is a rather special beer that is best shared with good friends at the end of the evening. It has an amber colour and a strong peaty whiskey aroma. It is very smooth to drink with a strong sweet flavour that transitions into a peaty finish with hints of smoked meats not unlike a good whiskey. Fabulous!
- Snickers Chocolate Ale, 6.4% abv, this ale is black in colour with a sweet caramel and chocolate aroma. It has a full palate of sweet flavours, caramel, chocolate and nuts. Just like a liquid Snickers bar. Yum!
- Quaddlehop, 14.6% abv, this is an amber coloured beer with a strong smokey aroma of smoked meat and cheese. It has a beautiful smooth smoked meat taste, much like a Rauchbier but better. Very nice.
Wow, what an amazing selection of beers they have at Bacchus Brewing Co. and I didn’t even try them all. I was truly blown away by the wonderful beers that I sampled, it is no wonder this brewery has won so many awards. I would like to thank Ross for his hospitality and taking the time to explain the beers to me. They really are producing some very special brews here. Very much worth the visit!