I’m a big fan of Little Creatures Pale Ale, its one of my favourite summertime drinking beers. A lot of people have bagged the brewery, not the product, since it was bought out by Lion Nathan (the makers of all things Fourex and Tooheys, just to name two of their vast range). A lot of press has been from the hard core, hard nosed craft beer drinkers being disappointed that one of our leading independent craft breweries sold their company off to a multi-national giant.
Personally, I get it. The owners saw an opportunity to set them and their families up for life and took it, plus having, and I’m making massive assumptions here, having enough left over to start again if they wanted. I was concerned that Lion Nathan would play with the craft beer range and it would mean the slow death of Little Creatures, but Lion to their credit haven’t done such a thing. Instead there has been a push to extend the range, along with the range coming out of the Little Creatures sister brewery White Rabbit.
It also means that its now more cost effective to get Little Creatures Pale up to us in kegs, now coming out of the Geelong Brewery, which was built just last year. This wasn’t something that happened too often previously, the kegs needed to be transported from Perth, not a cost effective exercise, and the kegs saw a lot of time in the heat/sun during that long transport.And, being the end of the road, the tranposrt cost made getting the beer here, and having it in good knick wasnt going to happen.
For us yeast-geeks this access to an Eastern seaboard keg distribution network is exciting because it means there are more and more local pubs and restaurants are finally putting the Little Creatures on their taps. Its not taking off everywhere but there are enough places floating around to make it more than worthwhile trying to getting into a few of the places over the Christmas and New Years break to try a schooner or eight while you sit there and watch the world go by. Draught beer is almost always un-pasteurized, allowing the beer to have optimum flavour, and is great for beer that’s best consumed fresh, like light lagers and hoppy beers. The aluminum keg also blocks light from hitting the beer, stopping it from become light-struck which can cause skunky, vegetal off flavours
Off the tap Little Creatures Pale Ale still shows everything that is good about this particular American styled pale ale, but slightly fresher. Its a touch cleaner on the mouth, and slightly crisper. Combined with a good, cold glass Little Creatures Pale is one of those beers that just “work” on a stinking hot summers day. One of a handful of Australian beers that still keeps you interested in the last beer, just as much as you were in the first, and more importantly it still just as refreshing, without that all important bloated feeling.
Little Creatures Pale will finally be available on tap at selected venues November and Decmeber 2014, available at Shaw & Co, Pick & Shovel Bar – Craft Bar and the Crown on Palmer, along with McGinteys Irish Bar and Zinc Restaurant. Get in there and check it out on tap. Believe me when I say that your tastebuds will thank you for it, plus its a great excuse to get out of the summer heat.
I’ve got to be honest, I tried to drink my body weight in it when I found it on tap at a long lunch with mates….”having beers with my mates???….no its research, long hard research”.
Two more for the shopping list:
Little Creatures Rogers Beer – the problem with the mid-strength beer scene in Australia is taste, they don’t taste as big and full as a full-strength beer.. But Rogers throws that idea out the door. With their mid strength beer that tastes like a full strength beer, only 3.8%alc, or one standard drink per stubby. This is amber ale, quite nice and ruddy in the glass. There is pleasant malt and caramel aromas, a slight touch of burnt toffee and hops balance the smell nicely. Those aromas can be found in the taste too, a touch of citrus from the hops and only a little bitterness, which is lighter than expected from the colour, I know it’s changed my go to beer when I need to drive.
Little Creatures Pilsner – As much as I love my full taste ales, there is something special about a great quality classic European Pilsener. This a 4.6% alc brewed with Tasmanian Helga, New Zealand Pacifica and Saaz hops and extended fermentation give a very clean and clear looking beer. It has a light, fresh flavour and a crisp bitterness. Great beer that’s best out of a glass.
