Recently the Sydney Morning Herald held a Marathon “Tinnie Tasting Test”. The “Herald” grabbed a whole stack of canned beer including both craft and factory made beers. It seemed like an ambitious task and in the end it was as the SMH’s crew couldn’t get through the mass of tinnies piled in front of them. We have to say though the team of tasters made a great choice is picking the locally made Grifter Pale Ale as the top of the pile. It’s a great beer and one the whole team here at MyBottleShop enjoys cracking the ring pull off!
20. Newtowner Australian Pale Ale
Young Henrys, NSW, 4.8% ABV
Score 6.3/10
Cameron: A straight-up nice pale ale.
19. Strong Pale Ale
Balter Brewing, Qld, 5.9% ABV
Score 6.3/10
Dowling: There’s mandarin on the nose. A bit of warmth and sweetness too.
Pereira: It definitely tastes like there’s a higher percentage of booze present. Massive hop character.
18. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Bacon Smoked Ale
Barossa Valley Brewing, SA, 5.5% ABV
Score 6.4/10
Pereira: An absolute bacon bomb.
Jemima McDonald: It sure does have a bacon quality about it. Smoky but light.
17. Gipps St. Pale Ale
Stomping Ground Brewing Co., Vic, 5.2% ABV
Score 6.6/10
Wilson: Tropical fruit notes and high drinkability.
Pereira: It’s on the lighter side but still has great body and character.
16. Bliss Lager
Garage Project, NZ, Bliss Lager 4.5% ABV. (Originally brewed for Attica, Melbourne, and now available retail.)
Score 6.6/10
Pereira: Lovely. Light, fresh and crisp.
Jemima McDonald: There’s nice fresh citrus notes – clean and bright.
15. Windjammer IPA
Green Beacon Brewing Co., Qld, 6% ABV
Score 6.6/10
Cameron: Fresh, chewy and well-balanced.
Jemima McDonald: Hell yeah. I dig the toffee notes and light bitterness at the finish.
Pereira: Super fresh. There’s a honey-like malt sweetness and big hop grassiness.
14. Aftermath Double IPA
Kaiju! Beer, Vic, 9.1% ABV
Score 6.7/10
Dowling: It’s quite malty and chewy.
Pereira: Yep, it’s very chewy. The massive bitterness lowers the drinkability for me.
Wilson: There’s pine cones on the nose and an Aperol sweetness too.
Jordan McDonald: Yeah, I’m getting some burnt orange and toffee flavours.
13. IPA
Balter Brewing, Qld, IPA 6.8%
Score 6.7/10
Jemima McDonald: It’s quite floral on the nose but a little too bitter for me. I can appreciate it but probably couldn’t enjoy a whole can.
Jordan McDonald: A really nice ale, properly balanced. There’s a bit of mango about it.
12. Original American Pale Ale
Southern Highlands Brewing, NSW, 4.5% ABV
Score 6.8/10
Wilson: It’s quite sweet.
Jemima McDonald: I think it’s a nice, light ale. Golden honey flavours. I like it! Sweet and approachable.
11. Sydney Draught Lager
Swill & Drill Brewers, NSW, 4.4% ABV
Score 6.8/10
Dowling: Drinkability is high. Fresh and clean.
Jordan McDonald: Complexity is low. It’s a bit too sweet for me. But, yep – super fresh.
10. Slick Rick Rampaging Red Ale
Yulli’s Brews, NSW, 6.2% ABV
Score 6.9/10
Wilson: Yes, it is quite bitter, but kept in balance. There’s a sweet middle.
Cameron: It lacks a bit of finesse, but, yep – this is a good beer.
9. Kaiju Krush! Tropical Pale Ale
Kaiju! Beer, Vic, 4.7% ABV
Score 6.9/10
Jemima McDonald: It’s a really nice light ale. Fruity and easy to drink.
Dowling: Yep, it’s quite airy and fizzy in good way.
Jordan McDonald: And super tropical flavours too.
Pereira: I feel this beer was designed to be very, very smashable.
8. 3 Quarter Time Session Ale
Newstead Brewing Co., Qld, 3.4% ABV
Score 7.1/10
Wilson: There’s a bit of underripe mango on the nose.
Dowling: It’s super tropical and has a nice natural flavour. I wouldn’t be happy drinking a pint of it though.
Bennie: It’s definitely another one you want to drink icy cold in the park.
Jemima McDonald: All beers should be judged by how good they taste in a park, really.
7. Red IPA
Clare Valley Brewing Co., 6.9% ABV
Score 7.2/10
Jordan McDonald: You don’t see many of these Celtic red-style beers anymore.
Pereira: It smells like an Anzac biscuit.
Jemima McDonald: Someone actually made an Anzac biscuit beer years ago and it’s what got me liking beer in the first place.
Cameron: This is a big beer.
Bennie: Yep. That would definitely stop me in my tracks after one.
6. The Big Orange Kettle Sour
Woolshed Brewing, SA, 4.1% ABV
Score 7.4/10
Pereira: I don’t like this new fruit-driven pale ale trend where the flavours taste artificial.
Jemima McDonald: Sure, it tastes artificial but I don’t hate it.
Jordan McDonald: Yeah, I reckon it’s really juicy.
Pereira: It still works because, unlike the creaming soda tinnie, where you only have three seconds of beer on the finish, this one actually tastes like a nice tart, sour beer.
Wilson: However, if we unveiled this and it was a pale ale it would be massively, massively faulty.
Bennie: That’s always the way with wine judging too. You can be like “this is the best skin-contact pet-nat I’ve ever tried!” and then you unveil it and go “oh, right – it’s Jacob’s Creek”.
5. Robust Porter
Colonial Brewing Company, WA, 6% ABV
Score 7.5/10
Bennie: This is super clean.
Pereira: Most of the dark beers we’ve had today have been really sweet or really dry and this is balanced so well in the middle.
Wilson: Colonial’s [wide-mouth] cans are good for getting aroma from the beer without pouring it into a glass, too.
Pereira: I love the super wide-mouth cans – Bentspoke Brewing in Canberra also use them. Although it can be weird drinking from a can where you can see all the beer at once.
Jemima McDonald: From a sales point of view, everyone loves the wide-mouth cans because they’re a novelty.
4. Juice Train New England India Pale Ale
Quiet Deeds, Vic, 6.5%
Score 7.5/10
Jordan McDonald: I don’t dig how trend-driven the beer released by most breweries have become. New England India Pale Ale (NEIPA) styles are selling well, so now everyone has to do one.
Pereira: And remember when black IPA was a thing? Anyway, I enjoy this style of beer but I’m not looking for complexity.
Cameron: If NEIPAs are what punters want to drink over the next 18 months then it can be difficult for a brewery to resist making one – it’s still a business at the end of the day.
Wilson: There’s excellent balance here.
Cameron: Yep. This is a really seamless, well-made beer.
3. Law of the Tongue Oyster Stout
Sailor’s Grave, Vic, 5.8% ABV
Score 7.6/10
Dowling: Wow. Smoky. And surprisingly sweet at the same time. I want to sit by a fire and drink this. I love it.
Bennie: High drinkability. You could smash this.
Pereira: That’s what makes this beer so good. This style is normally something you can only enjoy in small measures.
Bennie: I think people forget that’s what Guinness does best too. Everyone’s like, “gross – steak in a glass – you can’t drink one without getting full”, but that’s not the case at all. You would get fuller drinking VB than this.
2. XPA
Philter Brewing, NSW, 4.2% ABV
Score 7.9/10
Wilson: The drinkability of this is really high.
Pereira: I recognise this beer. It’s the last beer I actually bought a case of.
Jemima McDonald: This is the one beer I would be able to drink a lot of. It’s not bitter and leans towards the fruitier side of things.
Cameron: It’s very elegant.
1. Grifter Pale Ale
The Grifter Brewing Co., NSW, 5% ABV
Score 8/10
Wilson: This is just a beautiful, fruity, fresh, in-your-face beer.
Dowling: There’s flavour, but it’s not too fruity or hopped to the point where it’s annoying to drink.
Cameron: It’s really well balanced. A great Aussie pale ale.
Dowling: It’s so on the mark. Light and crisp and they’ve nailed the carbonation. This is an every-person’s beer for every occasion – pub, home, park or on the road. It’s not just a beer drinker’s beer.
Grifter Pale Ale from Marrickville #1 Canned Beer
Source: Sydney Morning Herald 31 July 2018