Beertasters - Kiwi Craft Beer Tasting at The Sail & Anchor Fremantle

An evening of tasting some fine Kiwi craft brews hosted by "Beertasters" at the iconic Sail & Anchor Hotel in Fremantle.

The Sail & Anchor have some seriously tasty beers on tap at the moment for their NZ Beer Festival. Beertasters once again put up a very good selection of these beers to taste. I have not listed all of the beers tasted, I think I have missed at least a Porter and a Stout, but hey, I did knock off a few beers!

Croucher Pilsener (5% ABV)

Very hoppy Pilsener brewed with New Zealand Motueka & Riwaka hops and 10% wheat malt. A refreshing pilsener with a quite crisp bitter finish. Both hop varieties used are derived from the traditional pilsener Saaz hop.

Renaissance "Discovery" US style Pale Ale (4.5% ABV) & "Perfection" (5% ABV) UK style Pale Ale

Both Ales are brewed by the Marlborough based Renaissance Brewery in the heart of New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc country. My photos don't do these Ales justice, the "Discovery" is a golden amber and the "Perfection" is a copper/golden amber colour. I have previously tried the "Discovery" by the bottle.

I preferred the "Perfection" for its more malty character. It is brewed with four different malts and London Ale yeast. It is a nicely balanced beer and has a definite biscuity nature typical of UK Pale Ales.

EPIC Barrell aged IPA

For me this beer was the standout for the evening. Epic's awesome "Armageddon IPA" aged in oak barrels for 8 weeks. Packed with US Cascade, Centennial, Columbas and Simcoe hops, balanced with English Pale Ale Malt & Caramalt, this is a flavoursome beer. The aging in Oak has added depth and complexity, one seriously good beer!

Renaissance "Stonecutter" Scotch Ale (7% ABV)

The nine different malts give this ale rich colour and big flavour. A really rich beer with toffee, caramel, roasty and spicy raisin flavours with a dry finish. A very good "wee heavy"!

8 Wired "iStout" (10.5% ABV)

I really enjoyed this "Imperial Stout", it had loads of roasted coffee & chocolate flavouring (again nine different malts).  The Southern Cross, Chinook and Cascade hops give this a crisp fresh finish. Amazingly easy to drink for a big stout but beware the 10.5% alcohol content is barely perceptible (whilst consuming that is).

Yeastie Boys xeRRex (10%ABV)

I am not a fan of  smoked beers and this is not something I would buy, but it is a bizzare quite incredible  beer. A one off batch imperial strength "Rex attitude", a beer brewed with 100% heavy peated distilling malt (ie malt whisky malt). It does have a malty body but the smoky hit is too much for me.