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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

This week in beer… 4 Pines

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IT’S one week closer to the second annual Canberra Beer Day Out, taking place on Saturday, November 8 at the Former Transport Depot, Wentworth Avenue in Kingston from 1pm till 8pm. Following on from the that, the week afterwards is the Canberra Craft Beer Week, where some of Australia and the world’s best breweries converge on Canberra’s bars and restauramts to showcase their wares to the Canberra public.

One such brewery making its way from Sydney’s sunny Northern beaches to Canberra is 4 Pines Brewery. Opening in 2008, 4 Pines have gone on to establish themselves as one of Australia’s largest, most popular and most influential craft beer breweries.

4 Pines are probably most renowned for their Pale Ale, which just missed out on a top 3 placing in the 2013 Hottest 100 Beers list, presented by the Local Taphouse and voted by the public. However, its important to note that they also had another beer dive into the top 10 beers of the 2013 poll, with their Kolsch coming in at number 8 on the list.

Kolsch (pronunced Coolsch, sort of) is a style of beer brewed in Cologne, Germany (and therefore the 4 Pines Kolsch is not an actual Kolsch in the true sense of the word), but it does have many of the attributes of the Kolsch style of beer. Much like a typical lager, Kolsch have a light straw-yellow colour and a refreshing, albeit not very hoppy taste. Kudos must be given to the guys at 4 Pines for popularising this style of beer in Australia and the awards speak for themselves, including a gold at the 2010 Sydney Royal Show and silver at the 2011 Australian International Beer Awards.

4 Pines have created a fine imprint in the nations capital, with several of Canberra’s craft beer bars having their beers on tap, including Honkytonks in Garema Place and the George Harcourt Inn, as well as a host of venues stocking their beers in bottles.

I used to find myself somewhat critical of 4 Pines as I felt they failed to think outside the box. However, my attitude to this has changed significantly with the advent of their Keller Door series. To celebrate specific world events (Ocktoberfest, US Independence Day and more), the Keller Door series brings together 4 different styles of beer to celebrate each of these events. 4 Pines are also known for sneaking in the occasional special brew, such as their ANZAC Day biscuit beer, made in conjunction with chef Andrew McConnell and comedian Mick Molloy.

I can only imagine that lines to the 4 Pines tent at the Beer Day Out will be understandably large due to both their iconic name and their reputation within the Australian craft beer market. Be excited if they showcase their wonderful ESB with its earthy, nutty characters and smooth mouthfeel but also keep an eye out for any special brews, like the Keller Door Series of beers that may be available on the day.

Although information is sketchy at this stage, I can imagine that 4 pines will have a big part to play in Honkytonks Canberra Beer Week festivities.

You can find out more about 4 Pines by finding them on Facebook, by checking their website at www.4pinesbeer.com.au or by visiting their establishment in Manly next time you travel up the Barton Highway.

What’s impressing me?

  • Homebrewers – Love people experimenting with their homebrews. And in my job, it seems I have become somewhat of an authority on craft beer. In the past little while, I’ve had no less than three of my regular customers come to me with their homebrews, and they’ve all be fantastic! Thanks Giles, Drew and Michael.
  • ANHC – Australia National Homebrewers Conference is coming soon, get excited everyone!

Adrian Moran has been pouring beers for over nine years and runs a weekly podcast devoted to craft beer
Twitter: @ausbeerjourney
Website: www.ausbeerjourney.wordpress.com

[Photo by Kate Borkowski, attribution licence]

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