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What to drink on Australia Day

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

"Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free. We've golden ale and Coopers Pale and throw-downs of VB."

Or something like that.

The local beer scene is booming like Skippy on steroids, along with our world class wine, spirits and cider industries. This means there's no excuse for stocking your Esky with imported booze this Australia Day and I don't care how smashable Corona is on a hangover.

Here's a few chilling suggestions for January 26, whether you plan on taking an Esky to the park, beach, lake, mate's house or your own backyard.

Yulli's Brews Norman Australian Ale.
Yulli's Brews Norman Australian Ale.Supplied
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Beer

Gord knows I love a good can. They stack neatly, cool down quickly and provide heat relief when applied to back of your neck. The sound of cracking a tin is the sound of Australia. Like Gang Gajang or currawongs or a win on Club Keno.

On Australia Day you want something that slams down easy. A tinnie of XPA from Currumbin-based brewery, Balter, fits the bill; an American-style pale ale with fresh mowed lawn on the nose and a clean bitterness on the finish. There's also Colonial Brewing's Draught Kolsch Ale, one of my favourite local cans of all time. Clean, crisp, tight and slightly floral. Like a proper kolsch should be. It's almost as good as Reschs on tap.

The highly-sessionable Dr Tim's from Coopers Brewery is always welcome in the Esky, as is Little Creatures' Dog Days Summer Ale. For pure Austen Tayshus-level kitsch, though, it has to be Yulli's Brews terrific Norman Australian Ale with its Akubra-crowned mascot who looks a bit like Glenn Ridge on the pies.

If cans aren't your bag, a beaut brew in the bottle is Stone and Wood's Green Coast lager, immensely drinkable with balanced malt and a soft finish. You could always rip the scab of a few grenades with carton of twisties, too. Say what you will about a VB throw-down, but there's no chance of it getting warm by the time you're on the last gulp.

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Speaking of scabs, the union boycott of Carlton United Breweries ended in December, which means chambray-wearing beer poptimists (i.e. me) can drink Melbourne Bitter again in good conscience.

It's also important to note that a lot of bottle shops offer Australia Day specials on Fosters. Do not be tempted. Fosters is terrible. Even worse than New.

Producer of Tilse's Apple Truck Cider, Luke Tilse takes a backyard bath.
Producer of Tilse's Apple Truck Cider, Luke Tilse takes a backyard bath. Simone De Peak

Cider

Cider is a summer essential and you should feel free to add as much ice to the glass as you want. It's summer, it's bloody hot, and many of the mass-produced brands are so sweet they need diluting anyway.

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The Strong Scrumpy from Bridge Road Brewers (because every second brewery makes cider these days) is not one of those sweet drinks. It's a tart, barnyardy bruiser that's super refreshing when ice cold. Perfect with that wheel of white Castello the blowflies are eyeing off.

For unfiltered deliciousness, the 'original' cider from Western Australia's Custard and Co is cracker. Naturally fermented with wild yeast, but still balanced with minimum funny business, it's an excellent barbecue cider that's lifted with a squeeze of lemon from oyster platter. It you're frothing for unfiltered cider in a can, check out the cloudy number from Napoleone that's big on personality and texture.

In the fun and fruity stakes, try Big Shed Brewing's Cherry Popper. The Adelaide Hills juice is 10 per cent real-life cherry, 90 per cent apple, and fermented with champagne yeast for grown-up good times. It's a sweet drop but worlds away from that Rekorderlig sugar-water dross. It's also 8.5 per cent ABV, so don't go too hard too early, pals.

Other Australian cider producers that will look after you are Tilse's, Willie Smith's, Small Acres, Lobo, Bilpin, Lost Pippin, Daylesford Cider and Golden Axe.

Charles gets stuck into Barossa shiraz on a visit to the Antipodes in 2015.
Charles gets stuck into Barossa shiraz on a visit to the Antipodes in 2015.Ben MacMahon
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Wine

Now is the summer of your chilled, light-bodied red. Australia is rich with winemakers producing highly-drinkable grape juice that loves a brief spell on ice. Not too long a spell, mind, as you still want to taste wine instead of a mouthful of cold acidity. About half an hour is swell, but that will differ depending on the wine so chill to taste.

Refreshing, slurpy, gluggable reds include any Patrick Sullivan Jumpin' Juice you can get your hands on, Ochota Barrels' Texture Like Sun 2016, Gentle Folk's Vin de Sofa 2016 and Shobbrook Wines' Novello 2015.

Eskys love rose like fish love chips, and stacking your cool box with the pink stuff is a smashing idea. Sud de Frank Rose 2016 is collaboration between Jared Dixon of Jilly Wines based in Clunes, NSW, and Dan Graham of Sigurd Wines out of the Barossa. It's fresh and happy and best consumed standing around a barbecue with mates and talking nonsense. Another cracker rose is Si Vintners Sophie 2016, made with purpose-picked pinot noir grapes. It's elegant and beautifully alive. Made for sitting under a tree and eating summer fruits.

Si Vintners only produced 1000 bottles of Sophie last vintage, so you'll have to hurry to score a bottle before January 26. An easier find is Logan Wines Clementine 2016. A "truly orange wine" says winemaker Peter Logan, as it's made with Orange-grown pinot gris grapes and fermented on skins for two weeks, resulting in a wonderful peachy-bronze colour. Silky, tangy and bursting with fruit.

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Put Distillery Botanica gin on the backyard table this Australia Day.
Put Distillery Botanica gin on the backyard table this Australia Day.Supplied

Spirits

There's such a large variety of Australian-made spirits, vermouths and mixers on the market you can make almost any classic cocktail with local liquor.

An all Aussie negroni is the aperitivo you want while the sausages are sizzling. Australian gin is easy to find (Four Pillars, Distillery Botanica, West Winds, Pour Toms, Archie Rose, Settlers, McHenry's - there are so many cracking ones to choose from) and any good bottle shop will stock local vermouth like Maidenii, Regal Rogue and Castagna. Australian campari though? Wot, wot?

Give thanks to Applewood Distillery for putting Red Okar on the market - a Campari-style aperitif that's tart with riberry and barky bitterness. Applewood's neighbours at Adelaide Hills Distillery have also released a bitter orange aperitif (known simply as The Italian) that's popping up around the traps. A negroni made with an Australian aperitif lacks the bitter hum of one made with Campari, but what the heck? It's still a boatload of fun to make and drink.

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Whisky is not the most summer-lovin' of spirits, but top it up with soda or mineral water and you've got a thirst-quenching highball on your hands. The only problem is that you don't want be using expensive Australian single malt in a highball - its a drink much better suited for blended whisky but good luck finding a cheap Aussie blend. The best local option for highballs is perhaps Starward's mainstay malt, Solero, which shouldn't hurt the hip-flask pocket too much.

Rum is a different story. We've got plenty of that begging to be mixed with cola or fashioned into a dark and stormy. While there's some top drops in the Bundaberg Master Distillers' collection, it's also worth looking past the polar bear to distilleries like The Hoochery, Beenleigh and Far North Queensland Rum Co.

"Identification please, mate."
"Identification please, mate."Rob Homer

Stockists

Legends at the below bottle shops should be able to help you out with a fair amount of the drinks listed above and point you in the direction of other ripper Aussie booze to get you full as a goog.

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A few of these stores have an online shop and you can also visit Drnks, Different Drop and Brix Wine Store for more local vino delivered to your door.

Sydney

The Oak Barrel, 152 Elizabeth Street Sydney; Medhurst & Sons (tinnie and cider specialists), 166 St Johns Road Glebe; Annandale Cellars, 91 Booth Street Annandale; Beer Cartel, 9/87 Reserve Road Artarmon; Bucket Boys, 300 Illawarra Road Marrickville; Camperdown Cellars, various locations. The Drink Hive, 61 Mentmore Avenue Rosebery; Five Way Cellars, 4 Heeley Street Paddington.

Melbourne

City Wine Shop, 159 Spring Street Melbourne; Slow Beer, 468 Bridge Road Richmond and 351 Smith Street Fitzroy; Blackhearts and Sparrows, various locations; Beer Mash 306 Smith Street Collingwood; Harry and Frankie, 317 Bay Street Port Melbourne and 406 Napier Street Fitzroy.

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Brisbane

Craft Wine Store, 196 Musgrave Road Red Hill; The Wine Emporium, 76B Skyring Terrace Newstead; Malt Traders 10 Market Street Brisbane and Shop 2, Emporium Hotel, 1000 Ann Street Fortitude Valley; Cellarbrations Bowen Hills, 5/35 Campbell Street Bowen Hills; Cru Bar + Cellar, 1/22 James Street Fortitude Valley.


Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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