On Sunday the 26th of November I visited Boatrocker Brewing Co. in Braeside, Victoria. They started brewing in 2009, but only as contract brewers.
They opened their Barrel Room, which is the storage area for their barrel aged beer and their tasting bar, about two years ago. It also now houses their still for making spirits, this came from Hippocampus which was operating in Perth.
The main brewery is located across the street from the Barrel Room in another building. The amount of barrels they have shows the commitment they have for their extensive barrel ageing program. It is probably the largest in Australia.
The brewery runs tours and in the new year they have plans to hold a Beer School with the brewer and a Gin Class with the distiller.
They get very heavily involved with Good Beer Week, being part of seventeen events this year.
At the bar they have eight beer taps, two being occupied by their core beers of their Pale Ale and their Alpha Queen American Pale Ale, the remaining six change regularly.
The beers that I sampled were:
1. Jungle Jive Sour IPA, 5.8% abv, this has a straw colour and a subtle citrus aroma. It has a lovely fruity, sour flavour. Very refreshing.
2. Miss Pinky, 3.3% abv, this is a raspberry Berliner Weisse with a pink colour and a strong raspberry aroma. It has a soft fruity raspberry flavour with a gentle sourness and a slightly tart finish.
3. Alpha Queen American Pale Ale, 5.0% abv, this has a golden colour and a citrus fruit hop aroma. It has a very easy drinking fruity flavour that is delicious with a mild bitter finish.
4. October Beer, 9.4% abv, this is a collaboration brew with Goose Island with a golden colour and a sweet, rich malt aroma. It was aged in oak barrels for four months and has a beautiful sweet maltiness of caramel and nuttiness. Magnificent!
5. Ramjet 2017, 13.6% abv, this is a whiskey barrel aged Imperial Stout with a black colour and a dark creamy head. It has a strong, rich aroma of raisins and whiskey and a lovely smooth mouth feel. The flavour is great with strong tastes of raisins, fruit, whiskey and rich goodness. Fantastic!!
6. California Dreamin’ IPA, 6.1% abv, this has a golden colour and a tropical fruit aroma. It has a great fruity flavour of grapefruit and tropical fruit with a gentle bitterness on a crisp finish.
7. Oatmeal Stout, 5.4% abv, this contains Pambula oysters and has a black colour and a dark head with a malt aroma. It has a nice smooth mouth feel and a good malt flavour with hints of coffee and a subtle saltiness.
Boatrocker Brewing Co. are producing some really wonderful beers. Their barrel ageing program is quite impressive and the results are delicious. The venue is fantastic and definitely worth visiting if you get the opportunity.
I would like to thank Georgie and Wayne for their hospitality when I visited.