Feral Tap Takeover Roundup

The Feral Brewing Company took over all of the taps at The Local Taphouse in St. Kilda. 

Simple idea. Right?

Firstly, The Local Taphouse has got 20 taps in operation. How many breweries have got 20 beers? Not that many. 

How many breweries have got 20 beers that are unique and have the diversity to make it an interesting event? Even less. 

Feral are one of those few, and they brought the nice in kegfuls. 

Along for the ride was Jeremy Daniell (now becoming the official photographer for From Beer To Eternity) and took some absolutely beautiful shots of the event. 

We spotted The Local Taphouse’s own Ange trying to get some work done and help the event move along smoothly, but we endeavored to interrupt her at every opportunity and talk about the beers (and beer in general) and she agreed to sit down with us and have a bit of a chat for our little blog. How nice of her! Here is what we got:

Dave: What do you think of this kind of craft beer event?

Ange: I think it’s incredible to give a brewery the chance to showcase a huge amount of their beer styles to show what they’re capable of. Feral are up there as my favourite brewery in Australia and they do so well experimenting with a range of different styles and producing at such a high quality.

Dave: Some tap highlights?

Ange: It’s really, really nice to try something that uses salt, most beers that you get capture the floral aroma and bitterness to it, but you don’t get many that have that savoury bite to it. Traditionally a lot of beers would have used that savoury element so what I find really interesting about craft beers is the reintroduction of really old styles, so Jose the Gose is definitely a highlight for me. Especially running through the Funky Brewster it’s really full on but at the same time it’s highlighting that savoury saltiness. The Fanta Pants is definitely one of my favourites, the Barrel Fermented Hop Hog is just a stand out. The last time we had that it was the first time I’d tried anything of that calibre in terms of the complexity of flavours. The fresh moss and vanilla and the sweet earthy flavours really go together perfectly. Thats actually my favourite.”

Now doesn’t that make you want to know more about the selection they were showcasing? I thought as much. Luckily I’ve got it covered.

Each beer on offer didn’t get a concentrated review but I did try and get tasting notes for each of them. 

So here we go:

983 Pale

A very unique pale ale using the sorachi hop variety. A delicate balance of lemongrass and vanilla, but with a nutty taste that comes through a bit like coconut. The malt really balances it out to make a very good pale ale. 

The Runt

2010’s Champion Ale in the AIBA awards. Stonefruit aromas bleed over into the fruity palate with mainly passionfruit flavours. A nice, easy, long flavour. Easy to justify the accolades. Easy to justify on a sunny day. 

Sail and Anchor IPA

This is a pretty interesting IPA. It has a banana aroma that is quite distinct from other IPA’s. The banana also comes through in the initial taste. Stretching out with a fruity sweetness makes this one a highly sessionable one. 

Jose the Gose

Well hello there. Here’s a different one. There’s a light sourness on the nose. A smooth, creamy mouthfeel makes it fairly easy to drink. Brewed with salt and coriander, this is a real savoury treat. The salt is a primary flavour, but it’s not overpowering. I had a huge urge to buy fish and chips with this beer.

Then, through the Funky Brewster it is even more extreme. Served though caper berries it gives a much bigger, sour aroma. The aftertaste of the salt and coriander is intense and it provides the most unique experience of the night. 

Farmhouse Ale

A nice floral, fruity nose. A very pleasantly balanced Saison. The taste progresses to green apples and riesling. All the characteristics you’d come to expect from a lovely farmhouse ale. 

Golden Ace

The latest of the Feral range to be bottled and distributed, and we can see why. The Golden Ace has the perfect balance that is the signature of the tried and true Feral ales. It starts with a pleasant, floral aroma with a citrus hint. The lemon carries through in the inital taste and lingers nicely. Balanced with a Belgian style malt. After it warms, you can pick up some coconut characteristics. 

Funky Junkie

The big, sour invention from Feral is quite unique! The aroma offers up a sour, fruity waft that really heightens the anticipation for this one, and the taste did not disappoint. A big, sour taste that is balanced by a mild sweetness from the malt. One punter on the night suggested fruit tingles, which isn’t far off really. You could add this beer to fruit salad for some serious harmony.

iWit 2.0

Brewed with orange peel and white pepper, these come through straight away in the aroma. This is really unlike any wheat beer I’ve had. The pepper and ginger flavours in this beer make it a very drinkable wit. The pepper aftertaste is quite remarkable.

Nice Guy, Dud Root

This brown ale sports a nice, coffee aroma on the nose, with a little bit of sweetness sneaking in. The first taste is just a classy, malty brown ale. The overall taste is rich and malty with a hint of aniseed. A solid brown ale. 

Smoked Porter

A little subtle smokiness on the nose with the addition of some sweetness. Some warmth lets out some toffee character too. A beautiful sweetness on the palate. A really good, malty, smokey porter. 

Hop Hog

The winner of this years Champion Ale from AIBA. A solid classic. Do I even need to describe it? Fine, okay. Beautiful, hoppy aroma with a touch of citrus to it. Lovely hoppy ale, but you already knew that. The #3 selection in the Critics Choice top 100 beers for 2010. THe flagship Feral beer. 

Barrel Fermented Hop Hog

Fermented in new French oak barrels. It’s sweeter on the nose than it’s regulation counterpart. The oak comes through beautifully. It’s dryer, cleaner and sweeter. Improving the Hop Hog is no mean feat, but Feral have managed to do it. 

Karma Citra

One of the first India Black Ales to surface this year, when they are set to pop up all over Australia. The citrusy, fruity aroma completely defies the black colour of the beer. This is offset by a smoky nose. A smoky flavour teams up with a sweet malt and strong bitterness form the citra hop. Very good IBA. 

Sail & Anchor Brass Monkey

Fantastic chocolate malty aroma for this Oatmeal Stout. It’s got a pretty light body for a stout, but a nice licorice flavour rounds out the taste. An extra kick is added by a good finishing hint of espresso to wrap it up. 

Fanta Pants

A very big, hoppy aroma (a tick in my book). It’s also got a staggering, deep red colour. An immediate sweetness is closely followed by the big, bitter hop hit. Simultaneous sweet malt and the hop bitterness make this unusually balanced for such a strong character. The red colour really is striking for it’s taste. 

Rust

A good, true to style Belgian Dubbel style ale without compromising any of the Feral uniquity (<--- that’s not a word, but it should be). The taste is a big, sweeping dubbel and finishes strongly with some candied banana. A double excellent dubbel (I must have had a few too many barrel fermented Hop Hogs before I wrote that last comment...)

Razorback

A really lovely, sticky sweet nose, almost like a sticky date pudding aroma that invites you to dive in. The taste hints of coconut flavour. The 9.8% ABV is hidden like Wally (toward the end of the book, not the start where it’s easy to find him.) with it tasting like a 7% at most. Danger. The flavour tails off with a lovely liqueur taste. Very nice.

Boris

Jet black Imperial Russian Stout. An odd, almost clover-like aroma that really bears no resemblance to the flavour. A big, rich, nutty stout that has a unique quality of the warming agent of the alcohol but being off set by the hop character adding a cooling character. Big, Winter warming stout. 

Still reading? Interesting. I thought without being able to taste the beers and having to struggle through my boring tasting notes you’d be bored and have gone on to YouTube or something. 

This event is an excellent showcasing of everything that a single brewery can do and I sincerely hope that this gets replicated, even if on a smaller scale with smaller breweries it really is wonderful to be able to taste everything that a brewery has to offer side by side. 

My final point will be this: Barrel Fermented Hop Hog. Mmmmmmm.