Craft Beer Dave (2024)

21/04/2023

Damn... damn... damn...
Usually, you approach a new beer and think you know what to expect... now and then a beer will surprise you... and DAMN this is one of those times!
I knew "444" from was an imperial pastry stout... what I didn't expect, was such an overload of chocolate cake-ness and cream in a beer that would still be drinkable - and then some - and not sickly sweet. But... yeah... they did it. This is a chocolate cake with cream beer in a glass that just works dammit. And then some.
Be smart, get it.

15/04/2023

"Wet hops" are super fresh hops picked from the vine and thrown into the beer within a day or two at most. Biggest difference seems to be a little more grassiness than kilned hops (the usual kind), though the tropical notes are strong in this one too. Lovely collab between & from Australia, and Seattle's , but I need to be further down my brewing education to be able to truly appreciate the different characteristics of wet versus kilned hops.

15/04/2023

I don't buy much nowadays, not because they're not top quality beers - they most definitely are - more that their almost always excellent hazies are a little samey, subtle changes of grain & hop bills notwithstanding. I mean, I could nerd out and compare the different flavours and aromas from different grain and hop combos, but for the most part I buy beers on the search for something new and different. But.....now and then one of their hazies stands out a little more from the rest, and this collaboration DIPA (Double IPA) with New York's is one of those times... an overload of hops and malt has produced a fruity alcohol BOMB! Tropical fruits dominate, with a nice kick in the lingering aftertaste from the 8% abv... this is one of those hazies that doesn't try to hide the alcohol level, while still remaining dangerously easy to drink... probably a good thing I only have one of them!

24/03/2023

Stop buying so many expensive beers, I said to myself. You can't afford it, I said to myself. You need to drink less beer, I said to myself. Then dropped their latest releases. Take my money, I said to One Drop.
This little box of devilishly enticing flavour bombs arrived on my doorstep today, just in time for the weekend... though as my weekend will involve attending 's Beers to the Bush craft beer event on Saturday, I dare say I might be saving this for the following weekend. Hmm... am I ever to have a beer free weekend again...? 🤔

21/03/2023

Stop off on the way home to Mudgee at in Katoomba, to find they have an AWESOME selection of beers on tap from , .ben, and various others... AND amaze-balls pizza too! They're jam packed on an otherwise quiet Monday night and I can understand why!
make sure you get a few kegs in here, they'll go gangbusters!
And you're Darkness Porter is one of the best I've had in a loooooong time, bucket loads of lush chocolatey-ness (is that a word??) over a smooth, dark as midnight porter base... to die for... ❤️

17/03/2023

Holy hyper intense flavour overload batman!! Wow, the intensity of the fruit flavours combined with the underlying sourness have created one hell of a face-puckering beverage! Almost... almost a little too much, even for me, but... I did say almost... while it does take a few mouthfuls to get my taste buds up to speed, I damn well love it!
A collab between local fav and a brewery from a former home of mine, Sweden, , their magical concoction is loaded with blackcurrants, boysenberries & raspberries, with a large dose of vanilla to balance the fruit tartness... I can only imagine how tart it would be without the vanilla, but they've got it just about spot on. Again, once your taste buds get with the program, your first mouthful or two will be a breaking in exercise before the true joy unfolds...

04/03/2023

Loved the craft beer & cider festival at today, though don't understand why the biggest local brewery weren't there...? Anyway, hopefully you'll see there next year!

03/03/2023

I've posted this beer from one of my fav breweries at least once before, possibly twice, but dammit I'm posting it again 'cos it's such a damn great beer!
"Boozy Fruit" is a NEIPA absolutely chock full of juicy fruitiness - no surprise as it's in the style of a very popular Aussie fruit-heavy ice confectionery called "Frosty Fruit" - that goes down an absolute treat when the weather is a little warmer... though to tell you the truth, just about anytime.
Thanks to .com.au once again!

03/03/2023

Love me a great .com.au box, especially when it comes with heaps of in their South Aussie brewery mix! And just in time for the weekend... 🍺

02/03/2023

Workday over at , time for a beer or two before heading home...

30/01/2023

Been a while since I posted last... house move, head in a bad place, life... but this collab between Australia's & from the US is well worth me breaking my IG absence!
This is a classic NEIPA just as you'd want it... juicy as hell, fruity as hell... but with a slight earthiness to it that apparently comes from the use of Hallertau in the dry hop, a hop I'd never thought of using for that before... but dammit it works! It adds a lovely "chewiness" to it that for me really adds some complexity to the flavours... top drop this one!!

22/12/2022

Couldn't pass by without dropping in, and lucky enough to find a collaborative brew with South Australia's on tap, a maple cream ale... and damn, it's a good drop!
Just a quickie, almost Xmas and people to see, things to do...

21/12/2022

Pastry stouts have gradually become one of my favourite styles... I mean, who doesn't like dessert? And how could someone not love a beer that tastes just like a dessert??
In this case it's flavours of orange, s'mores and pecans combined with the rich, dark chocolate flavours of an imperial stout... 's "It's All Gravy" is all debaucherous deliciousness ramped up to full volume, the 10% abv just slightly perceivable via the lingering roasted bitterness... though I reckon by the third or fourth I would just be lying back and letting the beer have its way with me...
Another awesome beer from One Drop!

15/12/2022

Feeling a dessert craving after dinner tonight so this Choc Hazelnut Banana Bread Pasty Stout from was the obvious choice... and it certainly satisfies my sweet tooth craving if not quite living up to my expectations.
Loads of chocolate with hints of banana... but lacking any real hazelnut flavour or "bread" qualities that would have taken it to the next level. Sauce make some mighty fine beers which probably raised my expectations, and while one didn't quite meet mine I will be keeping an eye out for their other "Let Them Eat" pastry series to see what other flavours they can conjure up to entice my taste buds...

04/12/2022

.beer has been a little bit and miss for me, for every good beer of theirs I've tasted, I've probably had one or two so-so beers... but I'm more than happy to report this one as definitely one of their best!
D6 is their 6th anniversary, 6 hop NEIPA... the worry with some beers that try to cram too many hop types into the beer is that the characteristics blend into and mute one another... but they got it perfect here! Citra, Mosaic, Sabro, El Dorado, Idaho 7, Galaxy... if you read the flavour and aroma profiles for each one, you can detect well balanced hints within the beer... for example, I'm not a Sabro / coconut fan at all, but the very subtle way it comes though in this beer just adds a little fullness to the tropical notes the whole ensemble brings to the party... end result = damn good!
Indeed this may well be my favourite - at the very least one of - NEIPAs I've had in Australia... in my search for any Aussie NEIPA that ranks up with those from in Argentina, this one comes might close, which is about as good a compliment as I can pay any NEIPA!

30/11/2022

Oh how I love thee... your erotically scrumptious Golden Stout Time (Golden Gaytime flavoured) stout enticed me into your lair initially, but since then you've kept me high on your supply of amazing beverages, and your "Californication" West Coast IPA is yet one more that has me first tingling in anticipation... and then lying back in supine acceptance of its superior malty flavoured backbone and fresh citric aromas... I am yours for the taking big boys... ❤️
In shortz another amazing beer from the Big Shed boys!

19/11/2022

Not often I splurge for an import nowadays ($20 a can!?!!!), but reading the description of this one I couldn't resist... blackberry icecream sour, with a TONNE of ice cream added, who wouldn't be tempted??
And damn, damn, DAMN, this is one hell of a beer from , right up there - and perhaps surpassing - any of the smoothie sours (challenge laid down lads!).
Soooo much fruit.... soooooo much icecream-ish flavour (lactose, vanilla, oats yada yada)... mind blowing beer!

18/11/2022

don't disappoint very often, albeit their hazies never quite match the quality of their smoothie sours but that's more about the quality of the latter than any issues with the former, though this Double Dry Hopped IPA might be their best hazy yet!
Loads of stone fruit and juicy citrus in both the aromas and taste, but with a fuller malt backbone than many of their usual hazies, I'm liking this one a LOT, and at 5.9% abv rather than the very common 7 or 8 for many hazies nowadays, I can enjoy a few more of these and not be a total wreck tomorrow.
Well done One Drop, definitely hit the mark with the one!

11/11/2022

For me, pale ale usually = boring.... but that would be ignoring 's Status Quo for one, in addition to and a few others... and I now have to include, this American Pale Ale from , which in all honesty really blurs the line between "pale ale" and "IPA"... if I was categorising the beer, it's an IPA for me.
But labels aside, to the beer... solid caramel malt backbone, fresh fruity hops aroma... a really easy drinking well balanced beer... it's not fancy, but it's damn good!

09/11/2022

Home brew day... and thanks to for their posted smoothie sour recipe and guide, let's see if mine can be even remotely comparable to your great sours! 🤞

04/11/2022

Passing by the brand new brewery tap room in Emu Plains it seemed rude not to stop in for a couple... as if I ever needed an excuse!! 🤣
And DAMN their brewery is a big'un for a still independent brewery... and damn their chocolate chip stout is a luscious, debaucherously dark n dreamy concoction... I do wish I was curling up in front of an open fire... naked... sheepskin rug... yeah, yeah, you all know the drill...
Get out and visit their new taproom, it's awesome!

24/10/2022

A key ingredient for my next beer... try and guess what I'll be brewing...?

18/10/2022

Before getting my box from they were like some mythical beast I had heard rumours and stories about though the mists of time... brewers of beers so refined you would trade your first born for a case or two... and now?
They're an excellent brewery! One of the best in the country definitely, but they have their hits and misses like any other brewery, so I have removed them from the unrealistic pedestal I had placed them on, and am now taking them beer by beer like any other brewery... and this one just happens to be one of their good'uns!
"Cryohopic Crush" is a tropical juice spiked golden beverage dry hopped with a load of - you guessed it - Cryo hops, resulting in a hugely flavoursome yet super easy drinking fruit bomb of a pale ale. Perfect for these rapidly warming spring days that hint at the summer soon to arrive...

14/10/2022

It's been a while since I've had a proper West Coast IPA and the thing I've missed most... the dankness, oh yes that dankness....
A proper WCIPA has it in bucketloads, side by side with a flavoursome malty backbone, backed up by a solid hoppy dark fruitiness... and "Electric Dream Machine" from delivers all the above in bucketloads!
Awesome beer, get on some!

14/10/2022

First thing I do when coming across a great beer I haven't tried before is google the bu**er, and on doing so for this one I was amazed to discover that 50% of its grain bill is oats. Yep, the oats you have for breaky. Now it's perfectly standard for various beer styles to include oats in the grain bill, but the most I had heard of previously was around 20-25%, the most I've used myself is around 15%. How little do I know... this is a cracking beer!
"Dream Lodge" from the ever more impressive is a soft as a pillow dream of a Hazy IPA, huge fruity aromas hitting you from the get go, huge, easy drinking fruity flavours masking a 6.8% abv.
One delightful and highly drinkable delight of a beer! Summer is coming and this will be one to enjoy under the warm sun...

08/10/2022

What else to do on a cold, wet and miserable Saturday in Mudgee than have an English Brown Ale at ? Super smooth toffee malt flavours that wrap its warm arms around you, keeping those chills at bay for just a little while... lovely beer!

20/09/2022

Oh , too many amazing releases, not enough waistline to consume them all (if I want to remain even within touching distance of some sort of fitness level)......and this is a FU***NG amaze-balls of a release... Imperial Fruited Pasty Sour.... guava, red papaya and maple syrup... it's a fruity dessert loaded oral explosion, the maple syrup adding some sugary depth to the flavours, the lip pursing sourness coming through in the aftertaste balancing out the sweetness... I'm literally licking my lips after each mouthful, drooling for the next... which at 7.6% abv is going down dangerously fast...
Another cracker from One Drop... almost getting boring how many great beers they produce!

19/09/2022

A visit to Sydney means a visit, just a quickie this one to grab a 4-pack of their latest weird and wonderful, but snuck in a quick little pastry stout too... and amazing as always!!

13/09/2022

Well as much as I loved my home brewed pastry stout (see my previous post) this one from reminds me I still have a ways to go before I'm pro level... this is just so smooooooth, with a super chewy mouthfeel, lke a proper dessert... the chocolate & vanilla flavours just roll over the tongue, coating it in a warmth that feels like a warm hug... dark chocolate lingers on the tongue, I'm drooling for more...
One of the best pastry stouts I've had!

13/09/2022

My "kitchen sink" pastry stout (see a previous post for my ingredients, they were wacky!) is ready to drink... and it's AWESOME!! Flavours coming through include chocolate, vanilla, toffee, with a spiced aftertaste from the spiced rum I used to soak the chocolate nibs... and has a depth to it that surprises me for a beer so young, I'm really intrigued how this will age...
I would possibly want to reduce or balance the sweetness just a little to be a "great" beer, maybe some saltiness could work, but definitely a recipe to work on and perfect... bloody awesome beer!

Wednesday	18:00 - 21:00
Thursday	18:00 - 21:00
Friday	18:00 - 21:00
Saturday	18:00 - 21:00

Craft Beer Dave

21/04/2023

15/04/2023

15/04/2023

24/03/2023

21/03/2023

17/03/2023

04/03/2023

03/03/2023

03/03/2023

02/03/2023

30/01/2023

22/12/2022

21/12/2022

15/12/2022

04/12/2022

30/11/2022

19/11/2022

18/11/2022

11/11/2022

09/11/2022

04/11/2022

24/10/2022

18/10/2022

14/10/2022

14/10/2022

08/10/2022

20/09/2022

19/09/2022

13/09/2022

13/09/2022

Address

Opening Hours

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share