Spring might be our favourite season of the year up here in the Blue Mountains. That crisp Winter chill begins to taper off, the local foliage begins to blossom, hearty soups turn into fresh salads, and perfect weather conditions for a day of adventure. But, perhaps more importantly, your go-to beers begin to make a shift.
What is a Spring Beer?
Spring comes around and people begin to seek out opportunities to be outside in the sunshine. And beer drinkers aren’t too dissimilar. After a winter of big, rich stouts and dark, malty ales, popular spring beers tend to be those on the drier side like our seasonal West Coast IPA - Back To Cali. And whilst the seasons are opposite to the Northern Hemisphere, German inspired Oktoberfest beers still thrive with their drier, more sessionable qualities.
There’s always a lot to choose from, so we’ve rounded up our best spring beers to help narrow down the search for you.
Scenic Route Hazy Pale
The perfect refreshment after a day of adventure or a tough day preparing the lawn in spring.
The little brother to our Status Quo Pale Ale in many ways, Scenic Route uses a drier yeast strain for sessionability as we go into spring. With a refreshingly sweet citrus hit from Mosaic hops, Scenic Route’s low-key ABV is perfect for when you want to slow down and take in the view.
Scenic Route now available year-round online as well as from your local independent bottle shop, Dan Murphy’s, BWS, Liquorland, First Choice Liquor or Vintage Cellars.
American Pale Ale
Everything you love about spring packed into a sessionable, easy-drinking pale ale.
This classic American Pale is full of flavour with fresh spring floral aromas. Inspired by Sierra Nevada’s flagship Pale Ale, our American Pale Ale gets its hoppy character from Simcoe hops that are balanced by caramel malt for a crisp, refreshing finish.
American Pale Ale available year-round online and from your local independent bottle shop.
Back To Cali - West Coast IPA
A traditional West Coast IPA inspired by old school IPAs from California using modern-day brewing techniques.
Loaded up with American hops, this IPA was one of the first beers we ever brewed as part of our innovation program. It holds a warm place in our hearts, and in 2022 it became part of our seasonal rotation during the spring months. Our house Cali yeast strain gives this IPA a clean, dry platform for resinous and citrus notes to shine. And packing a punch at 7.6%, Back To Cali is definitely one to enjoy at sunset when unwinding at the end of a big day.
Back To Cali available online and from your local independent bottle shop from September through November.
Die Bier Die - Festbier
It may not be Autumn in Australia, but damn we still love to enjoy beer’s biggest party of the year.
When it comes to Oktoberfest beers, traditionally you see an influx of Märzens or Festbiers. A Märzen leans more into the richness of the malts for a sweet, bready character, whilst Festbiers tone down on the malt dominance and lets German hops such as Saaz and Perle come through more for a lighter finish. And given Oktoberfest comes at a warmer time of the year Down Under, the past few years we have chosen to go with a Festbier. And we’ve brought it back again for 2024.
Die Bier Die exclusively available online from September 26th 2024.
What’s happening in the innovation program this Spring?
Introducing the Triple Dry Hop Series.
You may be thinking, triple dry hopping, we've seen that before. That's when you mix the dry hop varieties together and throw them in the beer at 3 separate times during fermentation. But what we're doing makes that process looks like some stone aged s*** compared to what we’re now calling Triple Dry Hopping.
Working with hop varieties we hand selected in the Yakima Valley, we're adding each variety of dry hop to the beer individually post fermentation after completely removing the previous dry hop. And for each hop variety, we have assigned a particular dry hopping temperature and contact time (12, 24 or 36 hours) to ensure that we get exactly what we want from each hop.
With the process, we're aiming for the cleanest hop profile we've ever created. We want to highlight the expressive juicy, fruity notes of the hops that we love in our hazy beers whilst minimising the earthy and herbal characteristics that can lead to an increased perceived bitterness.