Today I visited the Grand Ridge Brewery in Mirboo North, in Victoria. What a huge and wonderful range of craft beers they have to offer. They have beers that should appeal to the average mainstream beer drinker to beers that are aimed at the palate of a true craft beer lover.
I tried all they had to offer, and they were:
1. Almighty Light, 2.7% abv, this is a light straw coloured beer with a mild taste and a crisp clean finish. It is a great light beer.
2. Brewers Pilsner, 4.9% abv, this light straw coloured, Czech style Pilsner has a mild citrus aroma and spicy malt flavours followed by a lovely crisp finish.
3. Natural Blonde, 4.5% abv, this beer has a light straw colour and a mild fruit aroma. It has a wonderful citrus taste with hints of coriander and a lovely clean finish.
4. Golden Ale, 4.3% abv, this ale has a cloudy golden colour and a fruity citrus aroma. It is slightly tart in its taste but is very easy drinking and quite sessionable.
5. Grand Ridge Draft Bitter, 4.9% abv, this beer is aimed at the mainstream beer drinkers. It has a straw colour and a crisp easy drinking taste that should appeal to most average beer drinkers.
6. Grand Ridge Pale Ale, 4.7% abv, a straw coloured ale with very mild initial palate followed by a subtle hop bitter finish.
7. Gippsland Gold, 4.9% abv, this was the first beer made by the Brewery back in 1989, it is a good example of an Australian Pale Ale. It has a golden colour and a lovely malt flavour followed by a lovely subtle hop bitter finish.
8. Yarra Valley Gold, 4.9% abv, this ale has a dark golden colour and a sweet malt aroma. It has lovely malt flavours that are well balanced with a mild hop bitter finish.
9. WHOA, 4.5% abv, this is a wet hopped oatmeal ale, hopped with the breweries own home grown hops. It is a light golden colour and has an aroma of cut grass and stone fruit. It has a smooth yet complex taste with a slightly sour clean crisp finish. Yum!!
10. IPA, 5.5% abv, this ale has a cloudy, dark golden colour and a sweet fruity aroma. It has a wonderful malty initial palate and then a lovely strong hop bitter finish.
11. Hatlifter Stout, 4.9% abv, this dark brown coloured stout has a wonderful malt aroma and taste that has hints of chocolate and liquorice followed by a lovely well balanced bitterness.
12. Black and Tan, 4.9% abv, this is a mixture of real ale and stout and has aromas of malt and liquorice. It has a wonderful malty taste and is very approachable.
13. Winter Warmer, 6.4% abv, this is a vanilla and chilli stout. It has a wonderful vanilla aroma and a lovely malty vanilla taste with a mild chilli aftertaste.
14. Moonshine, 8.5% abv, this is a scotch ale that has a great complex palate and beautiful barley wine flavours of Christmas cake. It is truly a wonderful beer.
15. Mirboo Madness, 5.2% abv, an American Red Ale, it has a cloudy amber colour. It’s taste is very well balanced with an initial palate of malt followed by a lovely huge hop taste and a great crisp finish. This ale is made with their own home grown hops. An excellent ale.
16. Supershine, 11.0% abv, this super strong scotch ale spends eighteen months in the fermenter. It has a spicy sweet aroma and a delicious complex malty flavour that has hints of Christmas pudding in a glass. Wonderful!
They also make Twisted Sister Cider and have two great ciders on offer:
1. Apple Cider, has a wonderful Granny Smith like taste and a dry finish.
2. Pear Cider, this is a clear crisp sweet pear cider with a nice dry finish.
This is an absolutely fantastic Brewery with a beer to suit all palates. Some of their beers are available at Dan Murphy’s and some other bottle shops, but if you are in the area definitely drop in and try the wonderful range on offer.