Fabulous free time
Free Time Alcohol Free Pale Ale
Bridge Road Brewers, Beechworth Victoria
Less than 0.5%, 355ml can $15 per four pack
EVERYBODY seems eager to take the alcohol out of traditionally alcoholic beverages these days. If you've ever copped a hangover, you probably understand the impulse. For their effort, Beechworth's Bridge Road Brewers spent two years to serve up "a vibrant, juicy pale ale with low bitterness and a clean finish". It's worth the wait; a hop bill including citra, simcoe and enigma puts plenty of distance between it and the dull mouthwash you might associate with lighter options.It's among the best efforts at keeping the original attraction of beer intact without the grog. On the taste front, it also straddles the middle ground between craft beer and the commercial. It offers a hint of stonefruit, but not enough to overwhelm the lager lover, pouring with a gentle suggestion of head and a softly crisp carbonation. At its best it's most comparable to a light hazy or Pacific ale, but the thin mouthfeel of low alcohol lingers despite the fuller taste than many others.That said, it's got enough oomph to outclass plenty of other beers on taste alone. At $60 for a case, a summer favourite may be born. This one's destined to be a responsible fridge filler that's the best of all worlds.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Matt Carr
Award wins unmasked
Moss Brothers 2020 Moses Rock Cabernet Sauvignon, $32
5 stars (out of 6)
"AWARD-WINNING", is a term excessively used these days in promoting all sorts of products. Seldom given is the precise nature of the award, but I won't do that with today's two wines. This splendid Margaret River cabsav is the follow-up vintage of the sold-out 2019 judged the best cabernet sauvignon in the recent London Wine Competition, which attracted more than 1300 entries from 36 countries. The 2020 has 14.5% alcohol, bouquet garni aromas and glows inky purple in the glass. The front palate displays vibrant ripe blackberry flavour, the middle palate introduces Maraschino cherry, herb, spice and vanillin oak characters and the finish shows minty tannins. Get it on mossbrotherswines.com.au, team it with coq au vin and cellar nine years.
John Lewis
Usher's Halliday bid
Usher Tinkler 2022 La Volpe Prosecco, $38
4.5 stars
THIS zingy fizz links with 2023 Halliday Wine Companion Awards to be announced on August 3. Usher Tinkler Wines is one of 10 finalists in the best new winery award. Usher is one of our most inventive young winemakers and a Hunter prosecco trail-blazer, in 2014 converting semillon vines by grafting on prosecco cuttings. The first crop came in 2016 and Usher called it La Volpe - Italian for the fox. Here's the 2022 version showing 10.5% alcohol, busy medium bubbles, straw hues and ginger blossom scents. The front palate has crisp kiwifruit flavour, the middle lime, star anise and gunmetal and a finish of slatey acid. At ushertinklerwines.com.au, the McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, cellar and salumi cold cuts and cheese bar, and drink now with tapas.
John Lewis
Sour collab bears fruit
Ruby Grapefruit Sour, Shout Brewing Co, Islington, NSW, 3.6%
LAST year Asian infusion franchise Bao Brothers approached fellow Novocastrian business Shout Brewing Co, about developing their own grapefruit sour.Shout brewed several pilot batches before the Ruby Grapefruit Sour was chosen as Bao Brothers' winner. And boy, have they chosen well.The beer, which has become Shout's fifth addition to their canned range, pours more golden than ruby. The overbearing tartness you find in many sours is also absent, replaced with a sweet fruity flavour, before a creamy finish. At 3.6% the Ruby Grapefruit Sour also lends itself to sessionability.I haven't tried a Bao Brothers steamed bao bun with Shout's Ruby Grapefruit Sour as yet, but certainly they'd make a sweet combination.
