I visited Napoleone Brewery and Ciderhouse in Coldstream where I was treated to a wonderful range of both beers and ciders. They have a fantastic venue including a restaurant, function centre, winery, brewery and tasting room. Their beers are of a German and English style and are very true to their origins.
The drinks I sampled were:
1. Helles Lager, 5.1% abv, a great German style Lager with a lovely sweet taste and a quick dry finish. A very sessionable beer.
2. Pale Ale, 4.5% abv, this pale ale has a citrus hoppy aroma and a lovely well balanced biscuit malt flavour. Yum!!
3. Rauchbier, 6.0% abv, this is a wonderful German style smoked Lager. It has a great smokey sweet taste that covers the whole palate and then has a spicy, crisp finish. Very true to the style.
4. Breakneck Porter, 5.1% abv, this beer has a wonderful espresso aroma and a delightful caramel and biscuit malt taste that fills your whole mouth. Truly delicious!!
5. ESB, 5.4% abv, this is a classic English style bitter that is truly malt driven, it has tastes of biscuit and toffee and is well balanced by a mild hop finish.
6. Saison Duval, 5.7% abv, a great example of this farmhouse style of ale, it is smooth and mildly malty with a slightly sour finish. Lovely.
7. Brett Saison, 8.5% abv, this is an Imperial Saison with a blend of Brettanomyces and Saison yeast. It has a strong unique aroma and complex palate with hints of sherry.
8. Barry Aged Saison, 6.0% abv, this Saison is aged in Chardonnay barrels for eighteen months and they provide a wonderful buttery initial taste that is followed by a complete mouth taste of fruit and a mild sour finish. Lovely!
9. Weiss Bier, 5.3% abv, this is a traditional German cloudy wheat beer. It has a subtle banana aroma and a mild fruity flavour that finishes dry and crisp. Very easy drinking.
10. Apple Cider, 4.7% abv, this is a great crisp, sweet cider with a wonderful long finish.
11. Cloudy Apple Cider, 4.7% abv, apart from the cloudy appearance of this cider it tastes very similar to the clear Apple cider but with a slightly drier finish.
12. Pear Cider, 4.5% abv, this pear cider provides a wonderful full pear mouthfeel with a lovely sweet finish.
13. Apple and Pear Cider, 4.0% abv, this Cider is made with a 80% apple / 20% pear juice mixture that provides a crisp apple freshness and a lovely pear sweetness. It is very easy drinking.
All of the beers and ciders that I had the pleasure of trying were wonderful and very true to their style. This Brewery/ Ciderhouse is producing some great drinks and is definitely worth visiting or if you can’t make it to the Yarra Valley some of their drinks are available through Dan Murphy’s, alternatively they do have an ordering system that will deliver to your door. Give them a try!!